Balancing  (ouNt* 


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BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 


PROGRAM  OF  THE 

Country  Life 
Conference 


NORTH    CENTRAL    DIVISION 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Hotel  LaSalle 

CHICACO 

Orto!„r  25.  1916 


nf  Country  Life   Pro^reas" 


D.    Hunlrr  McAIpi..  M.   D..  C»..V-,.n 

COUNTY  WORK  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE 

INTERNATIONA!.  COMMITTEE  OF  YOUNG  MENS 

CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS.  Pt€i.Jui« 


Some  J^otes  for  the  Conference 


Dele(fate9  participating  in  general  discusatoo  "will  be 
limitea  to  tkrec  minutes  each.  LeaJera  wko  have  been 
aaaigaeJ  topica  to  open  Jucuaaion  will  be  ^iven  five  minutea 

Will  Jelegatca  please  atate  name  and  official  poaitions 
as  they  rise  to  speak,  and  to  aaaiat  the  atenograpbera,  apeak 
distinctly. 

Delegates  are  requeated  to  register  on  cards  fumiabed. 
Also  indicate  wbetber  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  it  deaired 
» bicb  »-.ll  be  published  by  Aaaociation  Press.  124  East 
28th  Street.  New  York  City. 

The  publications  of  the  Country  Life  Bookshelf  will 
be  on  display  revealing  a  eplendid  array  of  Country  Life 
Literature. 

The  Conference  ia  eelf  entertaining.  Rooina  can  be 
secured  at  the  Hotel  LaSalle  from  $1.50  a  day  and  upwards. 

Lunch.-on  at  noon  will  be  .erved  for  the  entire 
Conference  .t  one  dollar  per  plate.  The  Conference 
Dinner  m  the  evening  which  will  prove  the  climax  of  the 
day  will  be  served  at  6:30  o'clock  at  one  doUar  and  a  half 

The  great  Y.  M,  C.  A.  Hotel  on  Wabaah  Ave., 
□ear  Eigntk  Street,  at  'wbick  every  nigKt  ceveral  KunJred 
country  hoy$  spend  ttteir  firrt  nigtt  in  the  city,  will  be  a 
place  or  lotcreat  to  vtsit. 


'PROGRAM 

Mominj  Session 
A.  M. 

10:00  Hymn. 

10:05  Prayer. 

10:10  Introductory  Remarkj  and  Announcementa. 

10:30-10:50        The    Home    of    the    Country    Side."    by 
Miaa  Leonard*  Com, 

Editor  .(  Tlx  Fanur'.  Wil..  St.  P.uL  M.uuM. 

10:50-11:10      Queationa  and  Di«:u..ion. 


"PROGRAM 


Aft, 


remoon  Oeasion 


11:10-11.30      "The  School  of  th.  Country  Side."  by  Dr. 
Eraeat  Bumham, 

Dinnof.    D».nii><.i   o<  Rur>l   Scliocla.    W«.r.    Sut< 
Nor»J  Sck«J. 


11.30-12:00      Question,  and  Di 
12:30  Luncheon. 


R  M. 

1:30 

Hymn. 

1:35 

Prayer. 

1:40-2:00 

"The    Church   of   th.    Country-Side."  by 
Dr.  Oiora  S.  Davia. 

2:00-2:30 

Question,  and  Diacuaaion. 

2:30-3:00 

"The    Community    of  the  Counfry-Side." 
by  Dr.  R.  E.  Hieronymu..       , 

U.i..r.i.,  o(  lUi..,..  Urk....  lUi™. 

3:00-3:30 

Queationa  and  Diacuaaion. 

3:30-4:00 

Summary.  Reaolution.  and  Buaineaa.  by  . 
Commiaaion  of  the  Conference. 

4:00 

Adiourmnent. 

6:30 

Dinner. 

Balancing  Country  Life 


Edited  b\) 

THE  COUNTY  WORK  DEPARTMENT  OF 

THE  INTERNATIONAL  COMMITTEE 

OF  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN 

ASSOCIATIONS 


^sissociatton  l^xt^n 

124  East  28th  J^treeTj  New  York 
1917 


S/^  ^L<^.~.^it^  Pm^J^ 


Copyright,  1917,  by 

THE  INTERNATIONAL  COMMITTEE  OF 

YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS 

EPT. 


PRINTED  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

AN  INTRODUCTORY  WORD— Albert  E.  Roberts.  Senior 
Secretary  County  Work  Department,  International  Com- 
mittee of  Yowng  Men's  Christian  Associations xi 


THE    COUNTRYSIDE— ITS    HOME— Miss    Leonarda    Goss, 

Editor  "The  Farmer's  Wife,"  St.  Paul,  Minn 3 

Respectability  of  the  Country  Depends  upon  Its  Women 
— D.  Hunter  McAlpin,  M.D.,  Chairman  County  Work  De- 
partment Sub-Committee,  International  Committee  of  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations,  New  York,  Parable  of 
Kaleidoscope  Applied — Bert  Ball,  Secretary  Crop  Improve- 
ment Committee,  Council  of  Grain  Exchanges,  Chicago.  A 
Major  Premise,  the  Home  an  Industrial  Organization 
— Hon.  George  Mac  Kay,  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, Canton,  III.  Importance  of  Country  Girl — Miss 
Jessie  Field,  Secretary  Town  and  Country  Committee,  National 
Board  of  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations,  New  York. 
Survey  Necessary  to  Better  Homes — Dr.  Ernest  Irving 
Antrim,  County  Committee,  Van  Wert,  Ohio. 

II 

THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  SCHOOI^Dr.  Ernest  Bumham, 
Director  Department  of  Rural  Schools,  Western  State  Normal 

School,  Kalamazoo.  Mich 25 

Volunteers  Needed  to  Direct  Country  Life  from  Within 
— Dr.  Allan  Hoben,  Professor  of  Practical  Theology,  The  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago.  A  Teacher  Leader — T.  B.  Lanham, 
Secretary  Ohio  State  Committee  of  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations,  Columbus.  Rural  Minded  Community  Build- 
ers Essential — Dr.  A.  W.  Fortune,  Transylvania  College, 
Lexington,  Ky.  Economic  Improvement  Before  Any 
Cultural  Advance — Hon.  John  C.  Ketcham,  Master 
Michigan  State  Grange,  Hastings.  The  "Trenton  Idea" 
Tried  Out — Hon.  George  MacKay,  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  Canton,  III. 

Ill 

THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  CHURCH— Rev.  Ozora  S.  Davis, 

D.D.,  President  Chicago  Theological  Seminary 41 

Community-Wide  Church  a  Modern  Need — Rev.  J.  G. 
K.  McClure,  D.D.,  McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  Chi- 
cago. A  Solution  for  Over-churching — Dr.  E.  I.  Antrim, 
County  Committee,  Van  Wert,  Ohio. 


415500 


vi  CONTENTS 

IV 

PAGE 

THE     COUNTRYSIDE— ITS     COMMUNITY— Dr.     R.     E. 

Hieronymus,  Community  Adviser,  University  of  Illinois S9 

A  Lack  of  Community  Team  Work — Bert  Ball,  Secretary 
Crop  Improvement  Committee,  Council  of  Grain  Exchanges, 
Chicago.  Association  Cooperation  with  Other  County 
Agencies — C.  H.  Pipher,  Slate  Secretary  for  County  Work 
in  Iowa,  Des  Moines.  The  Massachusetts  Federation  for 
Rural  Workers — Professor  W.  J.  Campbell,  International 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  College,  Springfield,  Mass. 
For  Better  Rural  Schools— J.  Weller  Long,  The  Farmers' 
Union,  Chicago.  Improved  Highways  Necessary — Hon. 
George  MacKay,  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Canton, 
III.  Cooperation  in  Rock  County,  Wisconsin.  Min- 
isterial Cooperation — L.  A.  Markham,  Secretary  County 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Janesville,  Wis.  Big- 
gest Problem  is  "Folks" — Miss  Jessie  Field.  A  Note  of 
Hope — Dr.  J.  P.  Landis,  President  Bonebrake  Theological 
Seminary,  Dayton,  O. 


THE  LUNCHEON 85 

Speakers:  John  E.  Wilder,  Chairman  of  Illinois  State  Com- 
mittee of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations;  Hon.  B.  F. 
Harris,  Ex-Chairman  Agricultural  Commission,  American 
Bankers'  Association;  C.  L.  Rowe,  State  Secretary  for  County 
Work  in  Michigan;  Howard  Hubbell,  State  Secretary  for 
County  Work  in  Wisconsin;  T.  B.  Lanham,  State  Secretary  for 
County  Work  in  Ohio;  L.  Wilbur  Messer,  General  Secretary, 
Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 

VI 

THE  EVENING  BANQUET 105 

Speakers:  Albert  J.  Nason,  Member  of  County  Work  Depart- 
ment Sub-Committee,  International  Committee  of  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations;  K.  A.  Shumaker,  Secretary  Illinois 
Stale  Committee  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations;  Rev. 
Charles  Melvin  McConnell,  Lakeville  and  Newkirk  Circuit, 
Northern  Ohio  Conference,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church;  Albert 
E.  Roberts,  Senior  Secretary,  County  Work  Department, 
International  Committee  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions; D.  Hunter  McAlpin,  M.D.,  Chairman  County  Work 
Department  .Sub-Committee,  International  Committee  of  Young 
Men's   Christian  Associations. 

Appendix     I.    Report  of  Findings  Committee 119 

A  ppendix   II.    Contributions  in  Absentia 121 

Appendix  III.    Echoes  and  Impressions  of  the  Conference.   123 

Appendix  IV.    Distribution  of  Delegates  by  States 129 

Appendix     V.    List  of  Delegates 131 


PREFACE 

To  make  contagious  the  spiritual  motive  in  the 
Country  Life  Movement  of  North  America  is 
one  of  the  tasks  to  which  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  through  its  International  Com- 
mittee's County  Work  Department,  addresses 
itself.  The  very  nation-wide  scope  of  its  enter- 
prise reveals  continually  the  need  of  the  various 
agencies  working  toward  one  and  the  same  end, 
of  coming  together  out  of  their  field  of  activities 
to  gain  a  perspective  of  the  whole  national  move- 
ment, and  for  leaders  and  workers  to  get  a  uni- 
versal viewpoint  and  contagious  unity  of  purpose 
in  such  a  pioneer  undertaking  as  the  Country  Life 
Movement  of  the  United  States  presents. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  County  Work 
Department  of  the  International  Committee,  in 
cooperation  with  the  representatives  from  Theo- 
logical Seminaries,  Agricultural  Colleges,  the  Re- 
ligious and  Agricultural  Press,  Federal  Council 
of  Churches,  the  Sunday  Schools,  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association,  National  and 
State  Boards  of  Agriculture  and  Bureaus  of  Edu- 


viii  PREFACE 

cation,  and  all  others  which  have  to  do  essentially 
with  the  human  factor  of  our  countryside,  under- 
takes to  encourage  and  foster  the  conference  idea. 

This  Chicago  Country  Life  Conference  held  at 
the  La  Salle  Hotel,  Chicago,  111.,  October,  25, 
1916,  was  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  North  Cen- 
tral Division  of  the  United  States.  It  is  the  plan 
of  the  Committee  to  continue  these  conferences  as 
they  have  been  conducted,  for  the  New  England 
and  Middle  Atlantic  Divisions  of  the  United 
States,  for  it  is  only  by  a  sequence  of  such  confer- 
ences held  annually  that  real  results  are  achieved 
toward  "organized  will  and  purpose"  in  the 
national  country  life  consciousness. 

One  of  the  important  elements  in  a  constructive 
program  is  a  careful  record  of  the  proceedings 
and  of  the  various  papers  presented. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  topic  "Balancing 
Country  Life,"  the  contributions  under  this  cover 
will  afford  an  excellent  basis  from  which  to  work 
in  the  future  conferences. 

Sincere  appreciation  is  due  to  those  who  com- 
posed the  personnel  of  the  Conference,  as  well  as 
to  the  various  speakers  for  their  painstaking  care 
to  conserve  their  material  and  to  contribute  it 
to  this  volume. 


PREFACE  ix 

We  commend  the  volume  to  all  country  life 
workers,  with  no  idea  that  this  is  any  conclusive 
discussion  of  this  important  topic,  but  rather  to 
awaken  study  and  further  experimentation  with 
the  great  host  of  others  in  the  same  field,  and  in 
the  anticipation  of  further  light  which  may  be 
brought  out  in  the  records  of  subsequent  con- 
ferences. 


AN  INTRODUCTORY  WORD 

Albert  E.  Roberts 

Senior   Secretary  County  Work  Department,   Interna- 
tional Committee  of  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations 

I  was  told  the  other  day  that  there  were  two 
hundred  and  twenty  agencies  to  make  conditions 
better  in  the  country,  at  work  in  the  State  of 
Illinois  alone.  I  suppose  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  would  be  classed  as  one  of  those 
agencies.  But  most  of  them  are  working  solely 
along  economic  lines,  and  we  must  make  condi- 
tions economically  right  in  the  country.  In  the 
past  few  years,  however,  the  pared  post,  rural 
free  delivery,  telephones,  automobiles,  rural 
credits,  etc.,  have  done  much  toward  this  end, 
and  it  seems  to  some  of  us  that  the  social  and 
religious  agencies  must  see  that,  along  with  these 
economic  improvements,  in  which  we  rejoice, 
there  must  be  a  corresponding  development  of 
the  interest  in  the  Church.  And  so  this  Chicago 
Country    Life    Conference    was    called    by    the 


xii  AN  INTRODUCTORY  WORD 

Association  as  an  ally  of  the  Church,  if  I  may- 
use  that  expression. 

The  Church  itself  was  represented  by  theo- 
logical seminaries,  by  rural  pastors,  and  others 
connected  directly  with  the  Church.  The  agri- 
cultural colleges,  the  religious  press,  the  agricul- 
tural press,  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, the  Sunday  school,  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  and  other  agencies  were 
also  represented. 

There  was  no  cut  and  dried  plan.  We  did  not 
try  to  get  through  some  special  legislation,  but 
in  a  most  transparent  way  we  discussed  the  vari- 
ous phases  of  country  life,  to  see  how  we  could 
merge  our  interests,  avoid  duplications,  and  pre- 
vent overlapping,  and  by  counselling  together 
take  new  ground  in  the  promotion  of  better 
spiritual  and  social  ideals  in  the  country. 

We  were  encouraged  to  call  this  Chicago  meet- 
ing by  the  success  which  had  attended  similar 
gatherings  in  the  East. 

In  New  York  for  four  consecutive  years  we 
have  had  conferences  like  this,  and  we  have 
learned  to  trust  each  other.  Some  splendid  fel- 
lowships and  friendships  have  been  established, 
and  I  believe  there  have  been  set  in  motion  some 


AN  INTRODUCTORY  WORD  xiii 

forces  which  are  resulting  very  happily  in  a  new 
concept  of  real  rural  progress,  particularly  in 
behalf  of  such  agencies  as  I  have  mentioned. 

And  so  we  hope  that  out  of  these  various 
presentations,  there  may  come  a  clearer  light. 
If  we  all  may  somehow  feel  our  joint  responsi- 
bility in  making  country  conditions  what  they 
ought  to  be,  I  am  sure  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  will  be  gratified  and  will  feel 
well  repaid  for  the  effort  that  had  to  be  put 
forth  to  make  the  Chicago  Conference  possible. 

We  were  particularly  glad  to  have  with  us 
representatives  of  the  National  Board  of  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association.  We 
recognize  the  splendid  work  that  the  Rural  De- 
partment of  the  National  Board  is  doing,  a  work 
paralleling  that  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  and  making  it  possible  through 
these  two  agencies  to  approach  the  rural  problem 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  family — through 
instructing  the  young  women  and  girls  as  well 
as  the  young  men  and  boys. 


I 

THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  HOME 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  HOME 

Miss  Leonarda  Goss 
Editor  The  Farmer's  Wife 

Until  we,  who  are  country  life  workers,  shall 
relate  every  phase  of  our  endeavors  to  the  cen- 
tral unit  of  the  Home,  I  believe  we  shall  be 
building  with  utter  futility  in  our  efforts  to  help 
erect  a  worthy  rural  civilization. 

Until  the  country  clergyman  shall  go  the 
rounds  in  his  second-hand  Ford,  six  days  of  the 
week,  on  a  many-pointed  circuit  that  takes  in 
every  home  in  his  parishes;  until  the  country 
teacher  makes  herself  a  welcome  neighbor  in 
every  kitchen  and  parlor  of  her  school  district; 
until  in  addition  to  the  county  agricultural  agent, 
there  shall  be  likewise  a  county  home-demonstra- 
tion agent,  who  goes  into  the  home  where  the 
farmer's  wife  carries  on  her  business;  until  the 
leaders  of  State  Agricultural  Colleges  and  the 
Federal  Department  of  Agriculture  agree  to 
3 


•  «    *      r    I       t 

•    » 


"c'    •♦/«*•'   •       •     'r    .  .     €      t  » 

'       r  r     .  •    f    »"    r    »  ,  '         .    »    ,  »  I    r    *    .    • ,  » 

4  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

spend  fifty  per  cent  of  their  thought,  their  en- 
deavor, and  their  patrimony  upon  the  complex 
industries  of  that  home;  until  the  rural  press, 
originally  evolved  to  meet  the  urgent  economic 
needs  of  the  farmer,  shall  know  that  this  new 
day  demands  for  the  farmer's  wife  more  than  a 
page  of  polyglot  fashions,  fancywork,  and  let- 
ters of  distress  from  disgruntled  persons;  until 
the  farmers'  clubs,  under  whatever  name  or 
form  they  exist  in  various  sections  of  our  coun- 
try, shall  become  true  cooperative  neighborhood 
clubs  by  including  the  women  and  children  of  the 
home  in  an  honorable  part  of  their  program- 
making  and  of  their  activities;  in  short,  until 
there  shall  be  an  understanding  among  all  these 
agents,  pastors,  teachers,  county  advisers,  lead- 
ers of  agricultural  colleges  and  of  the  state  and 
national  departments  of  agriculture,  editors, 
writers,  local  club  leaders,  and  county  secretaries 
of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
and  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association — so 
that  our  multiple  effort  is  but  to  quicken  the  life 
of  the  home — we  shall  labor  without  purpose, 
without  objective,  and,  therefore,  without  avail. 

When,  understandingly  and  with  sure  inten- 
tion, we  see,  as  the  goal  of  our  every  effort,  the 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  HOME  5 

Home  and  the  human  life  within  it,  then  shall 
we  be  building  in  this  nation  such  a  rural  civili- 
zation as  the  world  has  never  known.  We  shall 
have  found  the  stone  which  the  builders,  so  far, 
have  refused.  We  shall  build  a  rural  civilization 
that  shall  not  be  temporal,  but  shall  have  immor- 
tal Hfe. 

We  are  not,  in  the  truest  sense,  working  to- 
gether in  our  rural-life  endeavors,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  we  have  not  defined  our  common 
cause.  The  nearest  approach  we  have  made  to 
finding  our  center  in  rural  life  work  has  been 
in  directing  our  labor  toward  the  betterment  of 
the  neighborhood  and  the  community.  But  I 
ask  you  to  consider  what  we  mean  by  either 
term.  May  they  not  become  the  sounding  brass 
of  mere  words  unless  we  think  deeply  of  their 
connotation  ? 

To  get  at  the  heart  of  the  meaning,  let  us  re- 
duce the  term  community  to  a  mental  graph. 
Picture  to  yourself  a  plane  surface.  On  that 
surface  draw  a  circumference.  Let  us  say  for 
the  purposes  of  our  graph,  that  the  circle  repre- 
sents a  country  community.  Of  what  is  it  made 
up?  Homes!  They  are  dotted  over  its  entire 
surface.    But,  again  for  the  sake  of  our  graph, 


6  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

let  us  place  a  composite  Home,  representing  all 
these  homes,  at  the  center  of  the  circle. 

On  the  circumference,  let  us  mark  off  at  equal 
distances  the  other  integers  of  the  community. 
We  shall  thus  dot  off,  sixty  degrees  apart,  marks 
on  the  boundary  line  to  represent  six  factors: 
(i)  the  country  school,  (2)  the  county  agri- 
cultural agent,  and  the  county  demonstrator  in 
home-making,  if  the  county  is  fortunate  enough 
to  possess  one,  (3)  the  extension  workers  sent 
into  the  community,  at  times,  by  the  State  Agri- 
cultural College  and  Federal  Department  of 
Agriculture,  (4)  the  rural  press,  (5)  the  com- 
munity club,  (6)  the  county  secretaries  of  the 
religious  organizations,  such  as  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  and  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association. 

Direct  radii  extend  from  each  of  these  six 
intersections  to  the  Home.  In  other  words,  in- 
terpreting our  graph,  the  ultimate  object  of  the 
school,  the  hierarchy  of  agricultural  agencies, 
the  press,  the  local  club,  and  the  religious  organi- 
zations, is  to  connect  themselves  directly  with 
the  Home,  to  pour  life  and  strength  along  the 
connecting  radii  into  the  folk  within  that  Home, 
so  enriching  their  powers  that  they  in  turn  give 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  HOME  7 

back  their  united  strength  to  make  stronger  the 
very  institutions  that  develop  them.  We  have 
thus  a  complete  circuit. 

But  whence  comes  the  power  that  passes 
through  this  complete  circuit  ? 

It  comes  from  above,  and  the  prism  through 
which  that  ray  of  power  passes  and  breaks  up 
into  the  several  rays  that  go  to  the  agencies  I 
have  enumerated,  is  the  country  church. 

So  if  you  will  forgive  my  geometric  parallels, 
let  us  consider  our  graph  to  have  become  a  cone, 
at  the  apex  of  which  is  the  church,  transmitting 
divine  strength  to  the  Home  and  to  the  various 
community  agencies  which  in  their  turn  pour 
that  strength  into  the  Home. 
.  Please  do  not  consider  that  because  in  my 
graph  I  have  placed  the  country  church  at  the 
apex  of  the  cone,  I  would  put,  in  reality,  this 
life-giving  church  above  and  beyond  community 
life.  I  would  keep  it  very  close  to  the  soil.  I 
believe  that  the  country  church  should  be  a 
seven-day-a-week  church ;  it  must  be  close  to  the 
heart  of  the  country  community. 

■  When  we  have  spiritualized  our  country  life 
work  by  making  the  church  the  divine  channel 
of  power  that  energizes  the  community's  central 


8  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

unit,  the  Home,  and  every  force  is  working  for 
that  Home,  then  shall  we  be  sure  that  our  every 
effort  has  an  objective  and  that  no  force  is  scat- 
tered or  wasted. 

As  we  think  of  the  Home,  let  us  think  of  it, 
not  in  terms  of  this  composite  dot  I  have  placed 
at  the  center  of  our  graph,  but  in  terms  of  the 
warm,  breathing,  human  and  divine  beings  who 
live  within  it;  specifically  let  us  think  in  the 
terms  of  the  woman,  the  farm  wife  and  mother 
who  is  the  focal  unit  of  that  Home. 

So  we  come  to  this  point,  that  our  labors  must 
have  as  their  objective,  her  and  the  family  whom 
she  holds  together.  We  are  working  to  intensify 
human  values  in  country  life.  We  are  not  striv- 
ing merely  to  increase  the  farmer's  income  nor 
to  educate  his  children  religiously  and  secularly; 
we  are  striving  ultimately  to  deepen  human  and 
spiritual  values;  we  are  working  not  solely  for 
the  land's  sake,  nor  for  the  crops'  sake,  nor  for 
the  stock's  sake,  but  through  and  beyond  these, 
we  are  working  for  life's  sake. 

And  when  we  work  for  life's  sake,  we  dare 
not  forget  her  who  is  the  very  center  of  life — 
that  quiet,  unobtrusive  woman  who  holds  to- 
gether the  Home  and  its  members. 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  HOME  9 

"A.  E./'  the  Irish  mystic,  one  of  the  Dublin 
group  which  is  "making  Ireland  over,"  has  been 
very  closely  associated  with  the  Plunketts  and 
especially  with  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  in  his  co- 
operative labors  in  rural  Ireland.  Substituting 
"America"  for  "Ireland,"  one  might  read 
"A.  E.'s"  essay,  "The  Ideals  of  Rural  Society," 
almost  assured  that  one  was  reading  the  pro- 
phetic utterances  of  a  writer  who  was  dreaming 
of  America's  future.    "A.  E."  declares: 

"We  cannot  build  up  a  rural  civilization  in 
Ireland  without  the  aid  of  the  Irish  women.  .  .  . 
A  great  writer  said,  'Woman  is  the  last  thing 
man  will  civilize.'  If  a  woman  had  written  on 
that  subject,  she  would  have  said,  'Woman  is  the 
last  thing  man  thinks  about  when  he  is  building 
his  empires.'  .  .  .  We  should  not  want  to  see 
women  separated  from  the  activities  and  ideals 
and  aspirations  of  men.  We  should  want  to  see 
them  working  together  in  harmony.  ...  I  be- 
lieve they  will  never  get  to  the  Delectable  City 
if  they  journey  apart  from  each  other  and  do  not 
share  each  other's  burdens." 

In  another  place  in  this  same  essay,  after  com- 
menting upon  the  present  school  of  Irish  dra- 
matists who,  in  holding  up  the  mirror  to  Irish 


10  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

peasant  nature,   reflect  nothing  but  decadence, 
''A.  E/'adds: 

"Well,  it  is  good  to  be  chastened  in  spirit,  but 
it  is  a  thousand  times  better  to  be  invigorated  in 
spirit.  To  be  positive  is  always  better  than  to  be 
negative  .  .  .  The  younger  generation  should 
hear  nothing  about  failures.  It  should  not  be 
hypnotized  into  self-contempt." 

I  would  emphasize  these  two  points:  we  here 
in  America  need  the  help  of  American  women 
in  building  up  our  rural  civilization;  and  we  no 
longer  need  to  be  chastened  in  spirit  by  hearing 
the  old,  old  woe  of  the  unhappy  farmer's  wife. 
We  have  heard  too  much  of  the  failures,  too 
much  of  the  negative;  let  us  hear  of  the  posi- 
tive. I  admit  to  you  frankly  and  fully  that  there 
is  a  shadow-side  of  human  nature  and  that  the 
shadow  lurks  in  country  homes  as  well  as  in  city 
homes.  I  am  not  maintaining,  to  borrow  a  phrase 
from  England,  that  all  is  "beer  and  skittles"  for 
the  country  woman,  but  I  am  maintaining  that 
among  those  country  women  are  splendidly  po- 
tential forces,  now  largely  neglected  by  our  work- 
ers. I  challenge  you  to  search  out  those  women 
and  enlist  their  leadership  in  every  country  com- 
munity; I  challenge  you  to  place  your  accent  on 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  HOME  ii 

the  positive,  constructive  strength  of  strong 
country  women. 

It  is  not  enough  that  only  you  and  I  should 
know  and  utilize  the  magnificent  latent  power  of 
country  women.  There  should  be  a  nation-wide 
acknowledgment  of  her,  to  the  end  that  in  every 
country  district  she  may  be  helped  to  make  her 
full  contribution  to  home  and  community  life. 

There  is  needed  a  more  complete  understand- 
ing of  this  farm  home  and  this  farm  woman. 
Miasmas  that  have  long  obscured  our  vision 
must  be  cleared  away.  A  new  generation  of 
farm  women  exists  today,  far  different  from  that 
of  fifteen  years  ago.  We  must  cease  to  think  of 
the  country  woman  as  we  knew  her  years  ago, 
as  we  know  her  today  in  the  one  corner  of  the 
United  States  in  which  we  live,  as  fiction  repre- 
sents her,  or  as  the  lecturers  who  do  or  do  not 
know  her,  declare  her  to  be.  We  must  know  her 
at  first  hand  in  the  farm  homes  of  today.  Nei- 
ther you  nor  I  can  get  that  complete  knowledge. 
Somebody  must  gather  it  and  declare  the  true 
status  of  the  country  home  and  country  woman. 

If,  as  one  outcome  of  our  discussions  here 
today,  we  can  agree  that  the  Country  Home  and 
the  members  of  that  Home,  held  together  by  the 


12  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

mother,  are  the  center  toward  which  all  our 
work  is  directed,  and  if  we  agree,  therefore,  to 
honor  and  enlist  the  active  services  of  country 
wives  and  mothers,  we  shall  have  helped  mightily 
to  advance  and  to  make  stable  our  rural  life. 

In  the  November  issue  of  The  Farmer's  Wife, 
Dr.  Thomas  Nixon  Carver  says,  "Several  nar- 
row misconceptions  have  had  to  be  or  must  still 
be  removed.  .  .  .  One  is  that  agriculture  and 
farmers  exist  in  order  that  other  people  may  live 
in  comfort  in  cities  and  towns.  This  must  give 
way  to  the  idea  that  'the  normal  life  is  the  life 
on  the  farm'  and  that  on  the  farm  is  where  peo- 
ple ought  to  live." 

Let  our  joint  labors  help  to  make  the  farm  life 
so  glad  and  happy  and  healthy  that  the  normal 
life  of  its  home  will  rarely  be  forsaken  by  its 
sons  and  daughters.  Whether  this  shall  be  de- 
pends upon  the  success  with  which  we  enlist  the 
farm  wife  and  mother,  the  hitherto  silent  partner 
of  the  firm,  to  make  her  contribution  to  rural 
life.  When  we  shall  begin  to  cooperate  with  her, 
then  in  truth  shall  we  be  working,  not  merely  to 
produce  agriculturists,  stock,  and  crops,  but  we 
shall  be  working  for  the  Home,  for  life  itself. 


DISCUSSION 


RESPECTABILITY    OF    THE    COUNTRY    DE- 
PENDS UPON  ITS  WOMEN 

It  is  a  very  well  recognized  fact,  that  "the 
respectability  of  a  country  depends  more  upon 
its  women  than  upon  its  men."  That  fine  type 
of  woman — the  mother — develops  and  trains  the 
child  in  the  country,  whereas  the  father  often 
looks  upon  the  boy  as  a  helpmate  and  something 
to  get  as  much  work  out  of  as  possible  in  return 
for  his  board.  Therefore,  the  boy,  when  he  be- 
comes independent,  leaves.  But  the  girl  cannot 
leave.  The  mother  takes  care  of  the  girl  and 
develops  and  trains  her  in  her  own  way.  There 
is  unfortunately  too  often  a  feeling  of  suspicion 
when  we  try  to  start  something  new  in  a  com- 
munity, such  as  a  sewing  class  for  the  girls.  I 
have  known  mothers  to  come  to  the  class  with 
their  infants  in  their  arms,  saying  their  older 
girls  do  not  need  to  learn  sewing,  that  they  buy 
readymade  everything  they  want.  Yet  over 
forty  girls  from  one  sewing  class  in  our  county, 
which  began  as  described  above,  are  going  out 
and  earning  their  own  living  from  sewing  taught 
in  this  class. — Dr.  D.  Hunter  McAlpin. 
15 


i6  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

PARABLE  OF  KALEIDOSCOPE  APPLIED 
I  would  introduce  the  parable  of  the  kaleid- 
oscope. Everybody  has  had  and  enjoyed  that 
toy.  It  is  a  paste-board  cylinder  containing  three 
mirrors.  One  of  these  could  be  called  "better 
business" ;  one,  "better  farming" ;  and  the  other, 
"better  living"  for  all  of  the  people  who  live  in 
any  given  community.  Let  us  take  the  colors 
of  the  bits  of  glass  as  the  subject  matter  and  the 
shapes  and  sizes  of  the  glass  for  the  people  who 
are  really  interested  in  each  subject.  It  is  funda- 
mental that  all  of  the  people — men,  women,  and 
children — in  a  given  community  shall  be  consid- 
ered in  their  proper  relation.  We  must  have  a 
communion  of  all  of  these  people  in  each  com- 
munity. We  must  undertake  everything  we  do 
in  relationship  to  the  other  things  which  are  go- 
ing on.  In  every  county,  all  of  the  things  of 
interest  in  that  county  should  be  handled  in  the 
order  of  their  importance  to  the  people  who  live 
there. 

For  instance,  on  one  Sunday  a  community 
conference  could  be  held,  where  all  the  preachers 
could  get  together  on  the  same  platform,  bring- 
ing all  their  choirs  and  all  their  people,  in  order 
that  everybody  might  become  acquainted  through 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  HOME  17 

singing  and  praying  together  and  touching 
elbows,  and  thus  learn  to  cooperate.  On  another 
day  we  could  take  up  dairying;  on  another  day, 
the  schools;  on  another  day,  roads;  on  another 
day,  crop  improvement;  and  wind  up  on  Satur- 
day with  a  Recreation  Day. 

We  have  plenty  of  money,  people,  and  energy 
everywhere,  if  we  can  only  bring  them  into  focus 
so  that  we  can  see  the  mosaic  which  the  figure  of 
the  "kaleidoscope"  represents.  We  must  do  it. 
While  the  problem  is  all  the  same,  none  see  it 
quite  alike  and  the  problem  appears  different 
every  time  we  ourselves  study  it. — Bert  Ball. 

A  MAJOR  PREMISE,  THE  HOME  AN  INDUS- 
TRIAL ORGANIZATION 

The  value  of  a  conference  of  this  kind  is  de- 
termined in  a  large  measure  by  the  point  of  view 
from  which  we  approach  the  whole  problem  of 
country  life. 

Miss  Goss  has  suggested  that  we  should  think 
of  country  life  in  terms  of  home  building;  Mr. 
Ball  has  indicated  that  we  should  strive  after 
an  increase  of  farm  products. 

We  are  living  today  in  an  industrial  age.  We 
are  thinking  in  terms  of  industrial  ethics.     The 


i8  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

greatest  industrial  organization  is  Home  Build- 
ing, and  its  product  is  Citizenship.  I  venture  to 
think  that  it  is  in  the  light  of  this  major  premise 
that  all  the  activities  in  life  find  their  proper  level 
and  distribution. — George  MacKay. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  COUNTRY  GIRL 

My  own  personal  conviction,  growing  out  of 
my  experience  in  working  with  country  people, 
is  that  this  matter  of  country  homes  and  of  coun- 
try women  and  girls  is  of  tremendously  funda- 
mental importance.  My  first  experience  in  work- 
ing to  build  up  country  life  was  with  country 
boys.  But  I  soon  began  to  see  that  we  needed 
something  more  than  good  farming.  We  needed 
better  living,  and  it  was  not  possible  to  have 
better  living  without  working  with  country  girls 
too. 

We  are  facing  today  a  great  need  for  the  right 
kind  of  leaders  among  women  and  girls.  I  be- 
lieve we  must  turn  to  the  country  to  find  these 
leaders.  We  have  some  seventy  secretaries  on 
the  National  Staff  of  our  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association.  I  have  been  interested  to  find 
that  sixty- three  out  of  this  number  are  from  the 
country  or  from  towns  of  under  three  thousand. 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  HOME  19 

Though  country  girls  undoubtedly  have,  po- 
tentially, the  leadership  that  we  are  needing  and 
will  need  more  and  more  for  our  nation  and  for 
all  the  nations  of  the  world,  yet  we  are  far  from 
having  given  them  the  fullest  chance  for  de- 
velopment. Is  this  not  a  challenge  to  us  to  do 
everything  in  our  power  to  bring  the  best  chance 
for  growth  and  development  to  them  every- 
where ? 

Any  one  who  is  interested  in  country  men  and 
boys  has  to  be,  because  of  the  very  truth  of 
things,  just  as  deeply  interested  in  the  country 
girl.  It  is  well  to  turn  our  thoughts  to  the  coun- 
try home,  which  is  at  the  very  center  of  all  coun- 
try life  development  and  is  of  equal  concern  to 
us  all. — Miss  Jessie  Field. 

SURVEY  NECESSARY  TO  BETTER  HOMES 

It  seems  to  me  that  one  of  the  fundamental 
things  in  connection  with  rural  life  work  is  the 
sui-vey.  If  we  expect  to  make  better  homes  in 
the  country,  we  must  first  know  the  country. 
With  that  idea  in  mind,  I  made  a  survey  of  my 
own  rural  county. 

In  an  address  at  a  Township  Sunday  School 
Convention  in  my  county,  where  I  felt  that  the 


20  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

time  was  ripe  for  a  local  application,  I  spoke  on 
"The  Country  Church,"  and  I  concluded  my  talk 
by  outlining  the  situation,  as  it  exists  in  that  par- 
ticular township.  This  township,  one  of  twelve 
in  my  county,  has  one  thousand  inhabitants. 
There  are  13,500  acres;  the  tax  duplicate  is 
$1,700,000;  the  tax  rate  is  seven  mills,  and  the 
income  of  the  people  is  about  $200,000. 

There  are  four  churches  in  this  little  township 
of  1,000  population — two  of  them  Methodist, 
one  United  Brethren,  and  one  Christian  Union. 
In  these  churches  there  are  400  members ;  that  is, 
400  of  the  1,000  inhabitants  belong  to  four  little 
churches;  and,  since  the  income  of  all  the  people 
of  the  community  is  $200,000,  then  of  the  400 
belonging  to  the  churches  it  would  be  $80,000, 
providing  the  income  of  all  is  approximately  the 
same.  If  these  400  members  were  tithers,  they 
would  give  $8,000.  How  much  do  they  give? 
Instead  of  $8,000  they  give  $2,200,  or  one  thirty- 
fifth  instead  of  one-tenth  of  their  income. 

After  I  had  given  these  facts,  I  told  my  audi- 
ence that  it  required  a  good  deal  of  courage  to 
say  what  I  had  to  say  with  respect  to  the 
churches  of  their  township.  I  said,  I  would 
recommend  instead  of  four  churches,  not  over 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  HOME  21 

two,  and  one  would  be  better.  But,  as  it  hap- 
pens, in  the  southern  part  of  the  township  there 
is  a  very  fine  little  church.  So  I  told  them  I 
would  make  that  the  center  and  unite  with  it 
one  church  on  one  side,  in  the  township,  and 
another  church  on  the  other  side,  in  an  adjoining 
township,  and  thus  form  a  federated  church  out 
of  the  three  churches.  I  assured  them  they  could 
make  the  new  church  a  union  church  or  a  fed- 
erated church  or  any  other  kind  of  church  which 
the  individuals  that  w^ere  to  be  its  members  saw 
fit  to  make  it. 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  township  there  are 
also  two  little  churches.  These  I  would  unite 
in  a  similar  manner,  I  assured  them,  and  thus 
there  would  be  two  churches  instead  of  four  for 
1,000  persons,  with  a  resident  pastor  for  each 
church.  I  did  not  know  how  they  would  take  my 
solution  of  their  church  problem,  but  after  I  had 
concluded  my  address  a  number  of  them  said 
they  agreed  with  me. 

It  is  quite  essential,  if  we  expect  to  improve 
country  communities  and  their  homes,  that  we 
combine  many  small  churches  and  then  make 
these  the  leaders  in  the  redemption  of  the  rural 
field. — Dr.  Ernest  Irving  Antrim. 


II 

THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS 
SCHOOL 


II 

THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS 
SCHOOL 

Dr.  Erkest  Burnham 

Director  Department  of  Rural  Schools,  Western  State 
Normal  School,  Kalamazoo,  Michigan 

The  country  school  is  gaining  a  wider  range 
of  attention  and  is  enlisting  the  life  service  of  a 
few  capable  and  trained  students  of  education. 
Scientific  study  is  assembling  and  relating  the 
actual  facts.  Perspective  is  emerging  and  a 
truly  philosophical  theory  of  rural  education  is 
being  slowly  evolved. 

It  is  now  known  that  facts  about  the  urban 
and  the  rural  educational  situations,  which  seem 
upon  superficial  study  to  be  alike,  have  little  or 
no  positive  correlation.  Hence,  the  necessity  of 
differentiating  standards  of  judgment  and  the 
disqualification  of  specialists  in  either  field  for 
immediately  trustworthy  service  in  the  other  are 
obvious. 

25 


26  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

To  equalize  rural  and  urban  statistics,  if  they 
are  to  be  given  comparative  study,  and  to  involve 
in  an  intensive  and  permanent  participation  in 
rural  education,  theorists,  who  assume  to  be  light 
givers  in  this  field,  are  two  fundamental  needs  of 
the  country  school.  Slightly  discernible  progress 
may  be  found  in  these  matters. 

The  better  qualification  of  country  children 
and  adults  in  executive  facility,  in  industrial  in- 
telligence, in  social  maturity,  in  aesthetic  sensi- 
tiveness, and  in  dynamic  moral  stamina — this  is 
the  frontier  and  the  constantly  reechoing  chal- 
lenge in  rural  education. 

Observational  and  speculative  study  has  de- 
fined a  need,  which  is  subject  to  correction  by 
education,  in  the  social  handicap  of  many  coun- 
trybred  people.  The  development  to  a  maximum 
of  the  wholesome  social  contacts  possible  in 
country  life  is  the  proposed  relief.  Alacrity  and 
poise  in  intellectual  and  executive  attack  is  an- 
other generally  recognized  need  for  which  edu- 
cation is  largely  responsible. 

Applied  industrial  intelligence  is  a  legitimate 
standard  by  which  to  measure  progress  in  educa- 
tion, and  by  this  standard  rural  education  cries 
out  for  redirection  and  invigoration.     Federal 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  SCHOOL         27 

and  state  attacks  upon  this  problem  have  been 
vigorously  prosecuted  with  the  investment  of 
millions  of  revenue  and  thousands  of  specialists 
for  half  a  century  and  wonderful  progress  has 
been  made.  But  the  whole  movement  is  yet  to 
come  to  its  fullest  fruition  in  the  general  locali- 
zation and  use  of  the  industrial  intelligence 
available. 

^Esthetic  sensitiveness  is  to  the  soul  what  physi- 
cal health  is  to  the  body.  The  nation-wide  at- 
tack upon  the  causes  of  physical  degeneration 
and  the  rapid  appearance  of  public  facilities  for 
health-giving  and  health-conserving  recreation, 
together  with  the  accelerating  propaganda  for 
understanding  and  cooperating  with  Nature  in 
landscape,  highways,  and  home  grounds  consti- 
tute a  practical  recognition  of  the  advantages  of 
the  countryside.  The  outstanding  qualification 
for  leadership  is  dynamic  moral  stamina.  The 
whole  set  of  the  situation,  not  only  as  regards  the 
school  itself,  but  also  with  the  fullest  inclusive- 
ness,  the  tone  and  spirit — the  compulsion  of  the 
aggregate  faith,  purpose,  and  elemental  sincerity 
in  individuals  and  institutions  making  up  the 
whole  community  life — must  be  invoked. 

The  latest   dependable  knowledge   in   action 


28  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

through  school  plant,  course  of  study,  teacher, 
supervisor,  administrator,  community  material, 
and  moral  support;  and  all  dominated  and  con- 
served by  a  state  program  in  rural  education, 
which  an  educational  statesmanship  of  state  and 
national  caliber  has  thought  through  to  the  most 
economical  and  truthful  application  of  funda- 
mental principles — these  are  the  stage  properties 
and  participants  in  the  national  drama  of  prog- 
ress in  rural  education. 

Conservation  of  children,  adults,  leaders; 
clarification  of  ideals,  so  that  they  may  be  simpli- 
fied and  reproduced  in  persons  and  in  business 
and  social  corporations;  perpetuation  of  democ- 
racy by  the  clearest  demonstration,  which  is  most 
convincingly  typified  in  the  small  community; 
and  the  compulsion  of  progress  in  the  whole 
solidarity  of  rural  life  by  the  domination  of  an 
adequate  ideal;  the  scientific  repioneering  of  this 
nation  by  an  inspiring  purpose ;  conscious  evolu- 
tion toward  Christian  democracy — in  all  these 
elemental  necessities  the  school  of  the  country- 
side is  one  of  the  Time  Keepers  of  Progress. 


DISCUSSION 


VOLUNTEERS  NEEDED  TO  DIRECT  COUNTRY 
LIFE  FROM  WITHIN 

It  strikes  me  that  our  generalizations  about 
country  life  are  not  very  valuable.  There  are  so 
many  kinds  of  rural  communities,  so  many  dif- 
ferent sorts  of  farming,  that  our  first  need  is 
that  of  accurate  descriptive  sociology.  No  one 
deduction  holds  valid  for  all  situations,  and  I 
think  we  shall  profit  most  if  those  who  have 
undertaken  welfare  experiments  will  give  us  an 
account  of  conditions,  with  all  the  elements  in- 
volved, their  methods  of  approach  and  procedure, 
wherein  they  failed,  and  wherein  they  succeeded. 

I  feel  that  we  should  magnify  the  idea  of  de- 
velopment from  within.  The  patronizing  uplifter 
from  without  hasn't  much  chance.  I  really  feel 
sorry  for  anyone  who  falls  into  the  hands  of  the 
expert,  whether  it  be  the  resident  of  the  slum, 
the  patient  in  the  hospital,  or  the  worker  on  the 
land.  While  a  great  body  of  knowledge  and 
goodwill  has  become  available  for  the  improve- 
ment of  farm  life  and  for  the  development  of  its 
higher  possibilities,  we  need  to  be  very  mindful 
31 


32  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

of  the  vast  resources  of  good  sense,  kindliness, 
and  independence  that  make  their  home  on  the 
farm,  and  we  cannot  be  too  capable  in  moving 
these  sometimes  latent  forces  from  within. 

Plans  for  improvement  should  be  carried  out 
at  public  rather  than  at  private  expense.  The 
developmental  principle  and  method  should  be 
imbedded  in  the  community's  organic  life,  and 
the  expense  of  becoming  better  should  be  borne 
by  the  community  itself.  It  would  be  a  great 
thing  if  young  men  and  young  women  were 
found  dedicating  themselves  to  the  work  of  the 
country  school  in  the  same  fashion  that  they 
volunteer  for  social  service,  or  for  foreign  mis- 
sions. We  want  to  put  people  of  high  ideals  into 
the  regular  machinery  of  education  and  govern- 
ment, and  so  achieve  gradual  and  sound  improve- 
ment at  public  expense. 

If  we  could  have  the  right  kind  of  a  school- 
master for  every  village  and  hamlet,  the  influence 
on  the  endless  stream  of  children  passing  through 
these  schools  would  soon  tell  for  good.  The 
trouble  with  many  young  persons  who  are  moved 
with  high  resolve  to  do  Christian  service,  is  that 
they  look  to  the  abnormal  and  spectacular,  to  the 
exclusion  of   those  great,   steady  opportunities 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  SCHOOL         33 

where  one  may  help  bring  in  the  Kingdom  of 
God  by  constructive  work  with  those  who  are 
normal. — Dr.  Allan  Hoben. 


A  TEACHER  LEADER 

One  of  the  officials  of  a  Board  of  Education 
came  to  me  as  an  Association  Secretary  and  said, 
"We  want  a  certain  type  of  teacher  for  our 
school  (this  was  a  centralized  school  that  was 
being  tested  out  in  the  State  of  Ohio) ;  we  would 
like  to  have  a  man  within  our  own  county,  if  you 
can  suggest  such  a  man."  We  had  the  privilege 
of  suggesting  a  man  who  has  spent  five  years  in 
that  school  and  who  has  developed  one  of  the 
best  schools  in  the  county  today.  That  Board  of 
Education  has  come  to  us  time  and  time  again, 
not  because  we  are  great  experts,  but  because 
they  feel  that  we  know  men.  The  man  I  have 
mentioned  believes  in  the  Young  Men*s  Christian 
Association.  Not  only  is  he  doing  a  splendid 
work  for  his  school,  but  in  the  new  community 
in  which  he  is  living,  he  has  been  a  leader  in 
the  Association,  in  the  church,  and  in  various 
other  institutions  of  that  community. — T.  B. 
Lanham. 


34  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

RURAL   MINDED    COMMUNITY   BUILDERS 
ESSENTIAL 

My  conviction  is  that  the  country  problem 
must  be  solved  by  men  and  women  who  not  only 
live  in  the  country  but  intend  to  dedicate  their 
lives  to  country  service.  I  had  no  thought  when 
I  was  on  the  farm  that  I  was  going  to  live  there 
all  my  life.  I  had  no  thought  when  I  was  teach- 
ing country  school  that  that  was  going  to  be  my 
life  work.  I  had  no  thought  when  I  was  preach- 
ing in  the  country  church  that  I  was  to  give  my 
life  to  the  country  ministry.  I  was  looking  for- 
ward to  the  city,  and  the  country  school  and  the 
country  church  were  used  as  stepping  stones  to 
something  else.  My  attitude  towards  the  coun- 
try has  been  the  common  attitude  during  the 
past.  The  country  problem  will  never  be  solved 
by  those  who  have  this  attitude. 

I  am  also  convinced  that  the  church  and  the 
school  should  cooperate  in  building  up  the  coun- 
try community.  I  lived  for  several  years  in  the 
Western  Reserve  in  Ohio,  where  there  are  some 
of  the  best  rural  schools  in  the  country,  but  the 
rural  churches  in  these  sections  are  rapidly  de- 
clining. I  am  now  living  in  Kentucky  where 
there  are  splendid  country  churches,  but  where 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  SCHOOL         35 

the  schools  are  inadequate.  With  centralized 
schools  and  centralized  churches  working  to- 
gether at  the  task  of  community-building,  the 
conditions  in  the  country  would  rapidly  be 
changed. 

Many  of  our  brightest  young  men  at  the  Col- 
lege of  the  Bible,  Lexington,  Kentucky,  are  look- 
ing forward  to  the  rural  community  for  their  life 
work.  Young  men  are  volunteering  for  country 
service  as  they  would  for  service  on  the  foreign 
field.  One  of  the  greatest  needs  of  the  present 
time  is  leaders  who  have  been  trained  for  rural 
service.  These  leaders  should  not  only  be  in 
sympathy  with  country  life,  but  their  lives  should 
be  dedicated  to  country  service.  They  should 
not  only  have  a  broad  general  training,  but  they 
should  understand  the  peculiar  problems  of  the 
country.  They  should  have  broad  sympathies, 
so  that,  instead  of  seeking  some  narrow  purpose, 
they  will  serve  the  community.  They  should 
have  no  thought  of  making  their  service  in  the 
country  a  stepping-stone  to  something  else,  but 
should  regard  it  as  their  opportunity  to  serve 
humanity  and  thus  help  to  bring  in  the  Kingdom 
of  God. — Dr.  A.  W.  Fortune. 


36  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

ECONOMIC   IMPROVEMENT   BEFORE  ANY 
CULTURAL  ADVANCE 

In  all  our  desires  to  build  up  other  rural  forces 
and  other  country  life  agencies,  we  must  not  lose 
sight  of  the  economic  side  of  agriculture. 

The  majority  of  people  have  a  much  distorted 
view  concerning  the  wonderful  prosperity  of  the 
men  and  the  women  who  live  on  the  land.  I 
want  to  challenge  that  statement  emphatically, 
enthusiastically,  and  everlastingly.  When  you 
put  upon  the  average  farm  today  a  keen  business 
man,  one  of  your  managers  of  great  corpora- 
tions, and  direct  him  to  charge  up  against  the 
farm  all  the  things  that  ought  to  be  legitimately 
charged,  and  to  take  into  account  the  board, 
labor,  and  long  hours,  and  all  that  appears  to  be 
to  the  advantage  of  this  farm,  you  will  usually 
find,  on  an  examination  of  the  business,  that  it 
is  running  into  debt  instead  of  earning  great  divi- 
dends. 

A  survey  was  made  in  one  of  the  northern 
counties  of  Michigan  in  1914,  and  out  of  the 
seventy-six  farms  surveyed,  the  average  income 
of  the  seventy-six  farms  was  seventy  dollars  a 
year.  The  illustration  given  by  Dr.  Antrim, 
$80,000  income  for  400  members  of  a  church,  is 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  SCHOOL         37 

in  point.    Figured  out  it  amounts  to  but  $200  per 
member. 

One  of  the  very  best  counties  in  Michigan,  an 
old  established  county  having  the  most  produc- 
tive and  high  priced  farms,  was  surveyed,  and 
the  average  labor  income  shown  by  that  survey 
was  but  $323  a  year.  Before  we  can  make  any 
progress  in  other  things,  certainly  we  must  im- 
prove the  economic  situation  of  the  men  and 
women  who  are  upon  the  land. — Hon.  John  C 
Ketcham. 

THE  "TRENTON  IDEA"  TRIED  OUT 

In  the  redirection  of  country  life,  there  arises 
the  question  as  to  whether  we  are  more  con- 
cerned directly  with  the  open  country  alone,  or 
with  the  relation  of  the  open  country  to  the  town 
as  a  unit.  The  reason  I  venture  to  suggest  this 
question  is  because  there  lurks  in  the  back  of  my 
mind  a  plan  that  has  been  successfully  operated 
at  Trenton,  Missouri,  known  as  the  'Trenton 
Idea." 

Some  excellent  results  along  this  line  have 
been  accomplished  out  in  Missouri  and  in  many 
cases  the  open  country  has  been  closely  joined 
with  the  representative  town  in  the  county. 


38  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

Through  the  medium  of  our  local  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  we  tried  out  some  of  the  plans  that 
we  borrowed  from  the  Trenton  Idea  with  rather 
satisfactory  "results.  We  selected  a  group  of  men 
from  our  Commercial  Club  and  we  held  meet- 
ings throughout  the  county.  Most  of  these  meet- 
ings were  held  at  some  country  church.  At  one 
point  we  had  music  and  speeches  in  connection 
with  an  ice  cream  social.  No  attempt  was  made 
to  sell  any  goods.  The  purpose  of  these  meet- 
ings was  simply  to  reach  out  to  a  larger  measure 
of  fellowship.  The  enterprise  was  quite  success- 
ful.— George  MacKay. 


Ill 

THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS 
CHURCH 


Ill 

THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS 
CHURCH 

Rev.  Ozora  S.  Davis,  D.D., 

President   Chicago  Theological   Seminary 

This  discussion  is  based  on  these  four  proposi- 
tions which  I  have  attempted  to  work  out  with 
great  care: 

Proposition  One: 

The  Christian  religion  is  the  inevitable  and 
crowning  factor  in  the  life  of  the  countryside. 
It  must  be  institutional  in  the  church ;  therefore, 
the  church  is  permanently  necessary  for  the 
countryside. 

"Is  not  religion  a  pervasive  spirit,  which  does 
not  demand  cooperative  institutional  expression, 
but  should  inform  all  human  actions?"  This 
question  is  raised  everywhere  by  men  who  dis- 
parage the  church.  They  are  saying  that  Jesus 
41 


42  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

Christ  never  attempted  to  create  an  institution; 
that  he  came  to  project  his  spirit  into  all  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  individual  and  of  society ;  and  that 
what  we  need  today  is  not  maintenance  of  the 
institutions  that  embody  this  religion,  but  the 
pervasion  of  all  human  action  by  this  religion  as 
creative  energy. 

I  think  we  shall  find  that  this  is  the  fundamen- 
tal philosophy  of  many  opponents  of  institution- 
alized religion.  But  Christianity  depends  upon 
institutional  expression,  that  is,  it  is  not  a  bodi- 
less spirit.  It  is  intended  indeed  to  spiritualize 
all  human  activities;  but  it  is  never  completed 
until  it  is  embodied  in  the  institutions  that  it  has 
created.  As  Bishop  Brent  put  the  matter,  "A 
body  without  a  spirit  is  a  corpse ;  a  spirit  without 
a  body  is  a  ghost."  What  we  are  thinking  of  is 
the  living  church,  a  body  of  believers  informed 
by  the  spirit  of  Christ. 

This  second  question  is  also  often  raised:  "Is 
there  not  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  church 
to  become  an  end  in  itself,  and  so  to  obscure 
rather  than  to  express  religion  ?" 

In  some  cases  this  is  true.  Whenever  a  church 
makes  its  own  aggrandizement  or  numerical  in- 
crease an  end  in  itself,  rather  than  construes  its 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  CHURCH        43 

mission  as  being  an  organism  through  which  the 
love  of  Jesus  Christ  expresses  itself,  that  church 
is  false  to  its  mission. 

The  true  church  is  the  organism  embodying 
the  very  will  of  God  expressed  in  the  person  of 
the  still  living  Christ. 

Is  there  any  fixed  ecclesiastical  form  which 
may  be  regarded  as  authoritative  for  the  modern 
countryside  ?  Or  must  the  institution  be  adapted 
to  meet  the  local  situation? 

I  believe  that  there  is  no  definite  or  authorita- 
tive ecclesiastical  form  which  is  able  without 
modification  to  meet  the  modern  situation,  be- 
cause I  believe  the  church  is  the  organism  of 
Christ.  Therefore,  it  must  change  and  adjust 
itself,  according  to  the  outer  workings  of  its 
inner  vitality,  to  the  environment  which  it  has 
been  created  to  serve. 

Proposition  Two: 

The  church  of  the  countryside  must  perform 
its  distinctive  functions  as  the  institution  of  reli- 
gion and  not  assume  those  of  other  institutions. 
It  always  must  remain  a  church. 

I  have  no  interest  in  the  church  of  the  coun- 
tryside that  seems  to  become  the  replica  of  an- 


44  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

other  institution,  for  example,  to  discharge 
merely  the  functions  of  social  service  or  be- 
nevolence. If  the  church  is  the  organism  of 
Christ,  it  must  discharge  those  functions  which 
are  necessary  to  the  complete  expression  of  the 
religion  of  Christ.  These  functions  are:  wor- 
ship, religious  education,  fellowship,  social  serv- 
ice, and  evangelistic  extension. 

Therefore,  I  raise  these  following  five  ques- 
tions : 

How  can  the  church  meet  the  needs  of  the 
countryside  in  the  hours,  forms,  and  conduct  of 
public  worship? 

The  church  is  designed  to  discharge  the  func- 
tion of  public  worship,  in  which  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  is  the  central  item.  American  life 
everywhere  needs  supremely  the  restoration  of 
reverence.  It  needs  to  stand  before  the  great 
and  ever  near  God  with  a  humbled  heart.  We 
need  to  dredge  out  the  springs  of  adoration 
which  are  running  dry  in  American  life  today. 
And  the  church  in  the  countryside,  maintaining 
public  social  worship,  has  a  large  part  in  dis- 
charging this  function. 

God  will  be  found  where  he  has  been  found 
from  the  beginning,  in  the  united,  uplifted,  re- 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  CHURCH         45 

vering  hearts  of  a  worshipful  congregation  and 
nowhere  else.  Therefore,  we  must  adapt  our 
forms,  our  hours  of  worship  to  the  needs  of  the 
countryside  and  never  cease  to  discharge  the 
function  of  worship. 

How  can  the  church  meet  the  needs  of  the 
countryside  in  religious  education?  Is  religious 
instruction  ever  to  be  given  in  the  public  school 
with  the  cooperation  of  the  church?  We  must 
adapt  the  church  of  the  countryside  to  discharge 
its  great  function  of  religious  education  in  the 
community.  There  is  no  doubt  about  that.  But 
to  change  the  church  simply  into  an  addition  to 
the  school,  a  place  in  which  to  give  lectures  on 
art  and  science,  is  not  what  I  mean.  I  mean  the 
religious  education  in  which  friendship  and 
neighborliness  can  unite  all  the  countryside  in 
the  search  for  truth  and  the  culture  of  the  soul. 
We  must  so  adjust  our  program  that  neighbors 
and  friends  shall  find  their  highest  privilege  of 
friendship  within  the  circle  of  their  church  rela- 
tionships. It  used  to  be  so  in  the  apostolic  age. 
Members  of  the  first  little  Christian  communities 
were  brethren  in  common  life.  And  we  must 
restore  that  form  of  a  church  to  the  countryside, 
in  which  young  people  through  their  church  rela- 


46  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

tionships  will  find  a  larger  and  finer  opportunity 
to  be  good  friends  and  to  help  one  another  in  the 
highest  possible  ideals,  through  the  church  and  in 
the  church. 

And,  finally,  in  what  way  may  the  church  of 
the  countryside  extend  or  reproduce  itself? 
What  is  real  rural  evangelism?  Not  simply  the 
bringing  in  of  the  evangelist,  who  shall  hold  a 
series  of  meetings  under  high  emotional  tension 
and  leave  unsolved  the  greater  problem  of 
making  actual  connection  between  the  needs  of 
the  community  and  the  religious  ideals  of  the 
"converts."  There  are  communities  in  the  coun- 
try today  that  have  been  burned  over  by  recur- 
rent, annual  emotional  revivals,  until  today  in 
these  towns  real  evangelistic  extension  is  almost 
impossible. 

Proposition  Three: 

The  program  of  the  church  of  the  countryside 
must  be  defined  by  the  vital  needs  of  its  environ- 
ment, not  by  tradition  or  by  any  "a  priori." 

We  develop  out  of  the  past.  We  inherit  from 
the  past  certain  traditions  about  the  church,  what 
it  should  be  and  do,  whether  it  should  have  a 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  CHURCH        47 

certain  order  of  ministry,  whether  it  should  pre- 
serve certain  liturgic  or  ritualistic  elements — and 
these  are  all  precious. 

But  the  church  must  not  allow  tradition  or  a 
priori  judgment  to  decide  what  shall  be  done  by 
the  church  in  every  given  situation.  The  church 
of  the  countryside  is  constituted  from  the  coun- 
tryside itself,  and  that  which  touches  and  saves 
the  life  of  the  community  is  therefore  to  be  estab- 
lished and  maintained  by  the  church.  If  the 
traditional  becomes  ineffective,  we  must  be  cour- 
ageous enough  to  reject  it. 

The  question  arises:  "How  does  the  country- 
side call  for  the  wider  use  of  the  church  build- 
ing?" 

One  of  the  most  wasteful  items  in  our  church 
program  of  today  is  the  non-use  of  church  edi- 
fices during  busy  week  days.  To  invest  $250,000 
in  a  great  structure  and  have  its  gates  of  iron 
closed  except  for  a  little  while  during  the  conse- 
crated hours  of  Sunday  and  at  times  for  the 
week  day  meetings,  is  sheer  nonsense,  from  the 
standpoint  of  efficiency  in  this  modern  age.  The 
church  of  the  countryside  is  also  amenable  to 
that  criticism  and  we  must  throw  open  its  doors 
and  use  its  buildings  more. 


48  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

What  is  necessary  in  the  nature  of  a  rural  sur- 
vey? 

When  we  are  determining  our  church  program 
in  the  countryside  by  the  needs  of  the  country- 
side we  must  necessarily  survey  those  needs  be- 
fore we  make  any  programs.  And  so  this  raises 
the  question  as  to  the  right  kind  of  rural  survey. 

Next,  how  must  the  church  of  the  countryside 
be  equipped  with  both  salaried  and  volunteer 
workers  ? 

Proposition  Four: 

The  church  of  the  countryside  must  have  lead- 
ers thoroughly  trained  for  their  task  by  general 
culture  and  vocational  study.  In  general  they 
should  be  graduates  of  colleges  and  seminaries. 
They  should  regard  their  country  ministry  as  a 
life  work  and  not  as  a  service  ad  interim,  until 
they  can  be  called  to  the  city. 

We  shall  never  solve  the  problem  of  the  church 
of  the  countryside  while  we  send  our  theological 
students  out  to  serve  a  country  parish,  in  the 
eager  hope  that  the  years  will  be  few  until  the 
church  board  in  charge  in  Chicago  sends  a  com- 
mittee to  hunt  them  up  and  promote  them  to  a 
city  church  after  this  discipline  of  the  spirit.     I 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  CHURCH         49 

claim  that  the  church  of  the  countryside  must 
receive  the  finest  theological-seminary-trained 
men  who  will  give  themselves  to  it  and  not  serve 
there  for  a  little  ad  interim  discipline. 

This  raises  a  series  of  questions : 

Can  men  of  the  right  quality  be  found  for  this 
service?  Yes,  they  can  when  they  see  that  the 
church  of  the  countryside  means  business,  that 
there  is  some  vision  there,  and  that  conferences 
are  studying  the  question  and  determining  a 
large  enough  program  for  the  best  that  is  in 
them.  With  this  kind  of  a  program,  we  can  go 
to  the  State  universities  and  small  colleges  and 
seminaries  and  get  men  there  to  give  their  lives 
to  the  church  of  the  countryside. 

Will  the  countryside  provide  adequate  reli- 
gious opportunity  and  economic  support  for  such 
trained  leaders?  Yes,  it  will.  If  the  leaders  are 
there  and  the  vision  is  among  the  people,  it  can 
be  done. 


DISCUSSION 


COMMUNITY-WIDE  CHURCH  A  MODERN 
NEED 

There  is  a  sentence  in  the  Book  of  Revelation 
descriptive  of  "the  city  that  is  to  be,"  in  which 
the  writer  says  "And  I  saw  no  temple  therein." 
Until  we  reach  that  city,  there  will  always  be  the 
necessity  of  the  "temple."  The  Church,  wherever 
we  may  be  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  is  today  an 
actual  requirement.  It  is  true  that  the  water  of 
life  is  what  we  desire,  but  all  of  us  have  to  make 
use  of  aqueducts  and  even  of  pipes,  wherewith 
to  secure  that  water. 

Every  country  pastor  ought  to  endeavor  to 
make  his  influence  as  comprehensive  of  all  the 
needs  of  the  community  as  possible.  Many  sug- 
gestions made  to  a  country  pastor  tend  to  limit 
the  development  of  his  own  initiative.  That 
must  never  be.  Wherever  the  country  pastor  is, 
he  must  be  on  the  alert,  constantly  endeavoring 
to  find  better  means  whereby  he  can  meet  every 
problem  in  the  community.  He  has  a  special 
opportunity  along  educational  lines,  for  he  can 
bring  the  young  men  to  his  own  study,  where 
they  can  discuss  under  his  leadership  everything 

S3 


54  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

that  pertains  to  the  welfare  of  the  neighborhood 
schools.  His  work  should  be  comprehensive,  too, 
in  matters  of  public  benefit. 

If  any  one  of  our  churches  is  to  accomplish  its 
full  ends,  it  must  fit  itself  into  all  possible  oppor- 
tunities for  service,  and  the  church  building  it- 
self must  be  used  for  as  many  purposes  as  possi- 
ble. We  make  the  building  sacred  by  the  spirit 
which  we  put  into  it — whatever  the  uses. 

The  country  church  demands  the  best  men 
that  the  ministry  can  produce.  The  pastor  who 
becomes  acquainted  with  every  individual  and 
home,  and  who  endeavors  to  adapt  his  ministry 
to  every  individual  and  home,  will  find  his  field 
as  large  as  can  be  desired.  It  may  seem  small  to 
the  casual  observer,  but  it  is  as  wide  as  hu- 
manity, as  high  as  heaven,  and  as  lasting  as 
eternity. — Dr.  James  G.  K.  McClure. 

A  SOLUTION  FOR  OVERCHURCHING 

It  is  generally  agreed  that  in  certain  parts  of 
the  rural  field,  there  are  too  many  churches,  and 
some  of  our  best  young  pastors  are  not  inclined 
to  give  their  lives  to  the  rural  field  in  its  present 
condition. 

There  are  two  ways,  I  believe,  of  getting  rid 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  CHURCH         55 

of  surplus  rural  churches.  One  is  to  allow  the 
unfit  to  go  to  the  wall.  Another  and  a  better 
way  would  be  for  the  leaders  of  the  great  de- 
nominations to  get  together,  especially  the  leaders 
of  those  denominations  that  are  particularly 
strong  in  the  rural  field,  to  work  out  a  plan  that 
will  provide  both  for  a  reduction  of  the  number 
of  churches,  where  there  are  too  many,  and  for 
satisfactory  combinations  where  combinations 
are  possible,  with  one  pastor  for  each  church, 
and  that  pastor  in  every  case  a  resident  pastor. — 
Dr.  E.  I.  Antrim. 


IV 

THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS 

COMMUNITY 


IV 

THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS 
COMMUNITY 

Dr.  R.  E.  Hieronymus 

Community  Adviser,  University  of  Illinois 

The  countryside  has  been  held  up  before  us 
from  the  triple  point  of  view  of  the  Home,  the 
School,  and  the  Church.  It  remains  for  us  to 
view  it,  not  in  its  parts,  but  as  a  whole.  The 
"community"  is  the  oft  repeated  word  and  the 
dominant  thought  running  through  all  the  fore- 
going. This  is  because  when  we  get  down  to 
"brass  tacks"  or  to  "bed  rock"  the  community 
is  so  elemental  and  fundamental  in  our  thought 
and  in  our  action.  It  is  simply  another  way  of 
saying  that  the  whole  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  all 
its  parts. 

This  word  community  is  one  of  the  best  of  the 
many  words  we  have  taken  out  almost  bodily 
59 


6o  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

from  other  languages.  It  is  not  a  new  word.  It 
was  much  used  in  the  Middle  English  and  Old 
French,  and  reaches  back  beyond  the  Latin.  The 
Sanskrit  root  from  which  it  has  come  signifies 
"to  make  fast,"  "to  set  up,"  "to  build."  Fortu- 
nately in  recent  years  we  are  coming  to  restore 
its  ancient  meaning.  It  is  the  "building"  and 
"setting  up"  of  these  various  communities  that 
is  to  "make  them  fast,"  "tie"  them  permanently. 
It  is  this  work  which  gives  unity  to  our  efforts; 
this  is  the  tie  that  binds  us  together. 

May  I  venture  upon  what  the  Unabridged  or 
the  Standard  or  the  Century  Dictionary  has 
not  yet  worked  out — a  definition  of  "community" 
in  the  sense  in  which  we  are  coming  to  use  it? 
In  the  first  place  it  is  not  a  mere  geographical 
boundary  or  political  division;  nor  is  it  just  a 
job  lot  of  people  miscellaneously  jumbled  to- 
gether. Many  localities  are  not  communities  at 
all.  A  "community"  consists  rather  of  a  group 
or  company  of  people  living  fairly  close  together 
in  a  more  or  less  compact,  contiguous  territory, 
who  are  coming  to  act  together  in  the  chief  con- 
cerns of  life.  They  must  be  so  related  that  they 
can  come  together  frequently  and  easily  at  some 
central  point.    Unless  they  are  gradually  coming 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE—ITS  COMMUNITY    6i 

to  act  in  harmony  on  the  chief  concerns  of  life, 
they  have  not  yet  grown  into  a  community,  are 
not  "built  up,"  are  not  yet  ready  to  be  of  service. 

There  are  a  number  of  "units"  of  action  in  a 
democracy — district,  township,  city,  county, 
state,  etc.  But  the  community  is  the  most  vital 
of  them  all.  It  is  the  natural,  human  unit.  The 
development  of  a  wholesome  life  in  the  com- 
munity in  which  we  live  is  with  every  one  of  us 
a  paramount  duty.  The  single  thing  upon  which 
all  interests  may  be  united  is  making  a  better 
community  in  which  to  live. 

In  the  use  of  the  word  "community,"  we  all 
think  of  villages,  towns,  and  small  cities,  as  well 
as  the  open  country.  The  Federal  Census  classi- 
fies all  cities  under  2,500  as  rural.  With  the 
definition  of  a  community  just  given  clearly  in 
our  minds,  glance  in  your  mind's  eye  at  almost 
any  part  of  the  Central  West.  None  of  the  divi- 
sions pictured  coincide  with  the  community.  We 
shall  continue  to  use  for  political  and  legal  and 
official  purposes,  these  time-honored  divisions, 
but  thought  is  shaped  and  action  is  aroused  by 
communities  rather  than  by  any  map  lines. 

Here  and  there  are  open  country  communities. 
But  for  the  most  part,  outside  a  few  large  cities, 


62  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

the  population,  strictly  speaking,  is  neither  rural 
nor  urban,  but  ''rurban."  The  community  of 
most  countrysides  finds  its  center  in  some  village 
or  town  or  city.  With  the  coming  of  hard  roads 
and  automobiles  and  movies  and  consolidated 
schools  and  community  libraries  and  redirected 
churches,  the  relationship  between  country  and 
town  is  becoming  more  evident  every  day. 
Neither  is  sufficient  unto  itself.  Each  needs  the 
other.  The  "two"  old,  properly  related,  make 
a  new  "one,"  and  that  one  is  best  characterized 
by  this  new  word  which  must  very  soon  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  dictionary  itself — "rurban." 

The  conviction  is  growing  that  in  a  democracy 
each  community  must  solve  its  own  problems. 
This  is  no  less  true  of  the  countryside  than  of 
the  crowded  city.  Nothing  really  "happens"  in 
a  community  until  the  people  get  busy  in  their 
own,  behalf.  Genuine  improvement  is  not  laid 
on  from  without,  is  not  inflicted  from  afar.  Real 
social  betterment,  on  the  contrary,  is  evolved 
from  within.  The  condition  of  a  community  is 
determined  by  the  people  who  live  in  it.  It  is  the 
folks  that  make  it.  Suggestions  may  be  given 
from  without  and  help  may  be  extended,  but 
these  are  effective  only  when  the  community  is 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY    63 

ready  to  be  helped  and  cooperates  fully  with  the 
forces  beyond  its  borders. 

With  this  in  mind,  may  I  summarize  briefly? 
The  school  will  not  come  fully  into  its  own  until 
it  becomes  community-wide  and  community-sup- 
ported. The  marked  progress  in  the  growth  of 
schools  in  the  last  dozen  years  in  the  Central 
West  has  been  mainly  in  this  direction,  under 
names  and  conditions  varying  in  the  different 
States — such  as  Union  Districts,  Centralized 
Schools,  Township  High  Schools,  and  Consoli- 
dated Schools.  The  Community  School  pure 
and  simple  is  clearly  the  tendency  of  the  time. 
When  the  interests  of  the  whole  community  are 
back  of  the  school — commercial,  social,  civic, 
religious,  as  well  as  educational — it  will  become 
what  we  really  want  it  to  be.  Such  a  school  is 
necessary  for  the  education  of  all  the  children 
of  all  the  people. 

A  single  concrete  example  of  the  Community 
School  will  serve  better  than  extended  glittering 
generalities.  A  twenty- four-acre  tract  of  land 
in  the  open  country,  several  miles  from  any  town 
or  post  office,  was  given  on  condition  that  three 
school  districts  having  one-room  schools  would 
unite  and  build  a  suitable  building.  It  is  a  beauti- 


64  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

fill  blue  grass  campus  with  fine  old  shade  trees 
and  a  stream  of  water  flowing  through  it.  The 
school  building  is  a  modern,  three-story  ivy- 
covered  brick  building,  costing  about  $14,000, 
heated  by  steam,  well  lighted,  and  supplied  with 
an  abundance  of  pure  water.  There  are  manual 
training  and  domestic  science  rooms,  well- 
equipped  chemical  and  physical  laboratories,  a 
library  of  1,000  carefully  selected  books,  and  in 
addition  to  the  ample  recitation  rooms,  an  audi- 
torium in  which  practically  the  whole  community 
meets  frequently.  All  of  the  grade  teachers  are 
graduates  of  some  one  of  the  State  Normal 
Schools  and  have  had  a  successful  experience 
before  going  there.  The  principal  is  a  graduate 
of  the  University  of  Illinois,  and  a  leader  in 
country  life  work  and  thought.  The  High  School 
is  a  fully  accredited  school.  Any  child  in  that 
community  may  go  through  the  eight  grades 
taught  by  superior  teachers,  complete  the  High 
School,  and  be  admitted  into  any  good  Normal 
School,  College,  or  University  in  the  State.  In 
addition  to  this  building,  there  are  stables  for 
twenty-five  or  thirty  horses,  a  teachers'  cottage, 
extensive  play  grounds,  flower  and  vegetable 
gardens,  and  an  agricultural  experiment  station. 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY    65 

Two  years  ago,  fifty-seven  boys  and  girls  had 
graduated  from  the  school  since  it  was  orga- 
nized ;  thirty-four  of  these  had  gone  for  one  or 
more  years  to  some  higher  institution  of  learn- 
ing. The  tuition  receipts  from  outside  the  dis- 
trict amount  to  about  $1,000  per  year.  Such,  in 
brief,  is  the  John  Swaney  Consolidated  School 
near  McNabb,  in  Putnam  County,  in  Central 
Illinois.  Rollo,  in  De  Kalb  County,  where  seven 
districts  united,  has  a  larger  building,  with  still 
other  community  features  giving  it  added 
strength.  Harlem,  near  Rockford,  has  a  similar 
school.  Other  states  number  schools  like  these 
by  the  dozen  and  the  score. 

A  Community  Church  is  as  logical  as  a  Com- 
munity School.  It  is  as  necessary  for  the  fullest 
religious  life  of  the  community  as  the  school  is 
for  its  intellectual  development.  For  an  institu- 
tion whose  field  is  the  world,  anything  less  than 
a  community-wide  vision  is  unworthy  of  the 
Church. 

A  year  or  more  ago  the  obligation  was  laid 
upon  me  of  directing  the  community  side  of  a 
State-wide  School  Survey  in  Illinois.  This  Sur- 
vey has  touched  in  one  way  or  another  several 
hundred  communities.    It  covers  such  vital  rural 


66  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

community  interests  as:  (i)  The  Library;  (2) 
Press;  (3)  Moving  Picture  Theaters,  etc.;  (4) 
Lectures,  Lyceums,  Chautauquas,  Festivals,  etc. ; 
(5)  Clubs,  Societies,  etc.;  (6)  Schools  (other 
than  public),  Classes,  etc.;  (7)  Health;  (8) 
Recreation;  (9)  Religion;  (10)  Special  occa- 
sions. The  survey  might  with  equal  profit  be 
extended  in  many  communities  to  include  other 
common  interests,  such  as  Good  Roads,  Beauti- 
fying, Water  Supply,  Sewage  Disposal,  Housing, 
Local  Government,  Industrial  Conditions,  Pre- 
vention of  Crime,  Charities  and  Corrections,  So- 
cial Settlements,  Welfare  Agencies,  etc.  Know- 
ing fully  one's  own  community  is  a  prime  re- 
quisite for  those  who  wish  to  work  constructively 
and  to  serve  efficiently. 

Any  such  survey,  however,  is  comparatively 
useless  unless  it  leads  to  definite  action.  A  study 
of  conditions  in  any  community,  large  or  small, 
should  be  followed  up  by  interesting  the  various 
forces  in  that  community  in  the  problems  thus 
discovered.  The  single  thing  upon  which  all  the 
really  worth-while  people  and  organizations  in 
any  given  community  can  unite  is  making  a  bet- 
ter community  in  which  to  live. 

In  Illinois,  A  Better  Community  (A.  B.  C.) 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE-^ITS  COMMUNITY    67 

Movement  is  well  under  way.  Every  state-wide 
organization  and  association  that  holds  an  an- 
nual meeting,  pays  dues,  maintains  an  office,  has 
a  policy,  and  is  interested  in  improving  condi- 
tions, is  invited  to  appoint  a  representative  on  the 
General  Committee  of  this  A.  B.  C.  Movement. 
This  includes  also  state  institutions  and  public 
agencies  such  as  Normal  Schools,  the  University, 
State  Board  of  Health,  Pure  Food  Commission, 
Commission  on  Charities  and  Corrections,  etc. 
Between  100  and  200  such  Associations  have 
been  formed,  and  nearly  100  of  them  have 
already  appointed  their  representatives  and  as- 
sumed their  responsibility  in  cooperation  with 
the  other  agencies.  Such  a  committee  becomes 
a  central  clearing  house  and  by  the  dissemination 
of  needed  information  is  serviceable  to  all  co- 
operating communities. 

A  state-wide  campaign  is  planned.  A  com- 
munity score  card  is  being  worked  out.  The 
communities  of  the  state  are  to  be  divided  into 
five  groups  according  to  their  size.  It  is  pro- 
posed during  the  approaching  state  centennial 
year,  19 18,  to  take  an  inventory  of  stock,  to  add 
up,  and  to  discover  what  the  strong  communities 
are,  and  in  what  their  strength  consists.    Such  a 


68  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

movement  we  believe  to  be  worthy  of  the  united 
effort  of  the  best  men  and  women  in  all  commu- 
nities. True  service  is  helping  to  make  a  better 
community  in  which  to  live  and  thus  to  help  life 
itself  onward  in  its  noblest  aims. 


DISCUSSION 


A  LACK  OF  COMMUNITY  TEAM  WORK 

There  is  a  great  lack  of  team  work  among  all 
the  various  organizations  which  are  operating 
in  the  country.  Each  different  subject  is  trying 
to  impress  itself  without  any  reference  to  any 
other  idea.  A  rural  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation secretary  in  order  to  make  his  work  per- 
manent, will  have  to  cooperate  with  all  of  the 
other  paid  secretaries  in  the  county.  In  one 
county  I  counted  thirteen  secretaries  of  different 
organizations,  who  knew  each  other  but  slightly 
and  whose  work  was  totally  unrelated.  There 
is  a  boundless  opportunity  for  cooperation  be- 
tween the  four  hundred  county  agricultural 
agents  in  the  north  and  west  and  the  large  num- 
ber of  Association  workers. — Bert  Ball. 

ASSOCIATION    COOPERATION    WITH    OTHER 
COUNTY  AGENCIES 

In  Berkshire   County,   Massachusetts,   where 

there  were  seven  County  Agents  in  the  field  as 

well  as  a  local  visiting  nurse,  and  also  a  Farm 

Improvement  Association,  the  heads  of  the  dif- 

71 


72  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

ferent  organizations  met  in  conference  for  the 
purpose  of  avoiding  duplications  in  the  field,  and 
the  County  Work  was  carried  on  successfully  on 
the  basis  of  team  work  because  of  these  confer- 
ences. Also  in  Greene  County,  Iowa,  the  County 
Secretary  and  the  Farm  Improvement  Agent 
consult  frequently  in  their  plans  so  as  to  avoid 
duplication. — C.  H.  Pipher. 

THE  MASSACHUSETTS  FEDERATION  FOR 
RURAL  WORKERS 

In  Massachusetts  there  is  an  organization 
known  as  the  Massachusetts  Federation  for 
Rural  Workers.  It  is  a  get-together  of  some 
thirty  state  and  sectional  organizations,  boards, 
and  institutions,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting 
the  interest  of  agriculture  and  country  life 
throughout  the  confines  of  the  state,  by  secur- 
ing the  cooperation  and  federation  of  the  vari- 
ous national,  state,  county,  and  local  organiza- 
tions and  institutions  which  are  working  for 
rural  progress  in  Massachusetts.  It  is  not  a 
militant  body.  It  is  merely  a  clearing  house 
through  which  the  various  groups  affiliated  have 
for  the  past  three  years  come  to  work  together 
more   closely   through   the   exchange  of   plans, 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY     7i 

projects,  and  purposes,  and  have  thus  been  able 
to  approach  in  a  more  or  less  uniform  fashion 
some  of  the  larger  state- wide  country  life  prob- 
lems. 

This  would  seem  to  me  to  be  a  most  splendid 
idea  and  one  well  worthy  of  general  adaptation. 
Already  some  most  wholesome  reactions  have 
come  through  the  efforts  of  this  Federation. — 
Professor  W.  J.  Campbell. 

FOR  BETTER  RURAL  SCHOOLS 

It  seems  to  me,  after  having  lived  in  the  coun- 
try many  years,  for  twenty  of  which  I  taught 
country  schools,  that  we  are  losing  sight  of  the 
fundamentals,  if  we  do  not  go  down  to  the  bot- 
tom, to  the  country  schools,  and  correct  the  seri- 
ous blunder  of  sending  over  fifty  per  cent  of  our 
boys  and  girls  out  into  the  world  to  battle  for  a 
living  before  they  finish  the  eighth  grade,  and 
ninety  per  cent  before  they  finish  the  high  school, 
half  of  whom  after  they  do  graduate,  cannot 
pass  an  intelligent  examination  for  a  third  grade 
teacher's  certificate. 

Begin  by  educating  those  in  a  community  to 
the  necessity  of  efficiency  in  the  schools  of  the 
country.    Teach  them  to  understand  what  "com- 


74  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

munity"  means,  what  "state"  means,  and  what 
"nation"  means,  and  the  relationship  of  each  to 
the  other.  It  is  the  inefficiency  of  those  who 
undertake  this  work  that  causes  failure  and  no 
one  is  more  to  blame  for  the  failure  of  schools 
than  the  State  Superintendents,  the  State  Nor- 
mal Schools,  and  the  Universities,  impractical 
and  inefficient  guides  as  far  as  the  country 
schools  are  concerned. — J.  Weller  Long. 

IMPROVED  HIGHWAYS  NECESSARY 

The  purpose  of  a  survey  is  to  secure  accurate 
information  by  the  process  of  sifting.  It  will 
appear  that  some  things  are  of  prime  importance 
and  some  things  of  secondary  importance. 

I  do  not  know  conditions  outside  of  the  State 
of  Illinois,  but  with  conditions  in  this  state  I  am 
rather  familiar,  and  as  far  as  Illinois  is  con- 
cerned, the  value  of  many  of  the  plans  that  have 
been  advanced  are  conditioned  by  transporta- 
tion. 

During  the  months  of  January,  February, 
March,  and  part  of  April,  the  highways  in  this 
state  are  in  a  very  bad  condition,  in  some  in- 
stances the  roads  are  impassable.  This,  to  my 
mind,  raises  the  question  of  an  improved  system 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY    75 

of  highways  as  one  of  the  very  first  things  to  be 
taken  into  consideration. — George  MacKay. 

COOPERATION  IN  ROCK  COUNTY,  WISCONSIN 

In  Rock  County,  Wisconsin,  the  following  or- 
ganizations have  their  records  kept  in,  and  their 
headquarters  at,  the  office  of  the  County  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  Committee:  Rock 
County  Farm  Improvement  Association,  Rock 
County  Sunday  School  Association,  and  Rock 
County  Community  Building  Committee,  which 
is  divided  into  a  Grain  Contest  Committee,  a 
Rural  Recreation  Committee,  and  a  School  Con- 
solidation Committee.  As  you  will  judge  by 
their  names,  each  organization  has  a  special  pro- 
gram to  carry  out ;  but  because  they  all  work  out 
of  a  central  office,  there  is  no  overlapping  of 
their  work. 

The  Farm  Improvement  Association  is  con- 
cerned most  largely  with  the  economic  condi- 
tions of  the  country,  and  at  present  is  conducting 
a  Farm  Management  Campaign  through  which 
eighty-seven  farmers  have  been  induced  to  keep 
accurate  records  of  their  farm  business,  in  order 
that  the  elements  entering  into  making  Rock 
County  farms  profitable  may  be  known. 


76  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

The  Sunday  School  Association  exists  for  the 
purpose  of  helping  the  Sunday  schools  of  the 
county  to  do  more  efficient  and  effective  work. 
There  are  forty-four  Sunday  schools  in  the 
county,  and  at  present  there  are  forty- four 
records  in  this  central  office  showing  exactly  the 
work  done  by  each  of  these  forty-four  schools. 
From  these  records  this  Association  has  deter- 
mined the  needs  of  the  respective  schools  and 
has  helped  to  organize  adult  and  teen  age  classes 
to  meet  these  needs. 

The  Community  Building  Committee,  through 
its  sub-committee,  through  Farmer  Clubs,  and 
through  Association  groups,  has  been  very  help- 
ful to  the  country.  This  past  summer,  this  com- 
mittee arranged  a  Rock  County  picnic  day  for 
the  children  interested  in  agricultural  contests 
and  for  their  parents.  There  were  350  on  the 
picnic  trip  taken  in  autos  secured  by  the  Com- 
mittee to  a  consolidated  school  in  northern 
Illinois,  where  the  Committee  on  School  Con- 
solidation had  arranged  a  program.  I  might  say 
that  this  visual  argument  for  a  consolidated 
school  is  helping  very  materially  in  interesting 
our  people  in  such  schools.  After  the  program 
on  schools  the  Recreation  Committee  conducted 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY     77 

games  that  might  be  carried  back  and  used  in  the 
several  schools  of  the  county. 

The  County  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion Secretary  is  either  Chairman  or  Secretary 
of  each  of  the  aforementioned  committees,  and 
besides  this  has  worked  with  the  County  Live- 
stock Breeders'  Association  in  promoting  calf- 
feeding  and  pig-raising  contests. 

The  good  roads  question  has  been  raised  in  a 
preceding  statement  and  the  impression  has  been 
left  that  no  winter  meetings  could  be  held  in  the 
country  because  of  bad  roads.  I  cannot  believe 
this  is  true,  because  in  our  county  practically  all 
of  our  group  meetings  are  held  in  the  winter 
and  some  of  the  members  who  attend  these 
meetings  come  for  a  distance  of  five  miles.  Nei- 
ther do  I  believe  conditions  can  be  as  bad  as 
pictured,  at  least  in  northern  Illinois,  for  in  the 
case  of  the  consolidated  school  which  our  peo- 
ple visited  in  that  section,  we  found  that  roads 
had  been  so  improved  that  many  of  the  families 
were  taking  their  children  to  the  school  in  autos 
the  year  around.  However,  because  the  roads 
are  passable  has  not  been  a  reason  for  our  being 
satisfied.  In  fact,  we  have  had  a  Road  Improve- 
ment Committee,  which  has  enlisted  during  the 


78  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

past  summer  sixty  boys,  each  of  whom  cared 
for  a  mile  of  road  and  through  his  work  on  this 
road  is  helping  to  develop  a  new  and  permanent 
interest  in  good  roads. 

The  reason  that  the  County  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  has  been  able  to  work  with 
so  many  organizations  is  because  it  is  interested 
unselfishly  in  the  highest  and  best  development 
of  the  economic,  social,  and  educational  sides  of 
country  life.  It  has  for  itself  no  political  ax 
to  grind,  no  money  to  make,  but  a  vision  of  what 
a  country  community  may  be  when  all  forces  are 
united  in  building  up  Christ's  Kingdom  there. 
— L.  A.  Markham. 

MINISTERIAL  COOPERATION 

It  has  been  said  that  ministers  will  not  co- 
operate. I  am  disappointed  to  hear  that,  for  I 
do  not  believe  that  other  counties  differ  largely 
from  Rock  County,  Wisconsin.  There  are  about 
forty-five  ministers  in  Rock  County.  Recently 
twenty-five  of  these  men  met  at  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  in  the  county  seat, 
which  has  a  City  Association  building,  and  from 
ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  three  in  the 
afternoon  discussed  the  boy  problem  of  their 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY     79 

communities.  Since  then  committees  have  been 
formed  in  the  respective  communities  of  the 
county,  v^ith  which  these  ministers  are  working 
to  help  solve  these  problems. — Secretary  L.  A. 
Markham. 

BIGGEST  PROBLEM  IS  "FOLKS" 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  biggest  problem  in  the 
world  is  folks ;  that  the  good  roads  question,  and 
every  other,  has  to  have  back  of  it  people  who 
believe  in  good  roads  and  are  willing  to  work 
for  them.  Down  in  the  hearts  of  people  there 
must  be  true  unselfishness  before  better  roads 
or  improvements  in  business  methods  are  possi- 
ble. 

Such  selflessness  of  motive  is  at  the  begin- 
ning of  all  that  is  good  and  beautiful.  It  is  un- 
selfish cooperation  that  makes  community  build- 
ing possible.  In  other  words,  it  is  through  the 
inner  lives  of  men  and  women  that  the  Kingdom 
of  God  comes.  So  the  growth  of  the  world  is 
limited  by  the  extent  to  which  the  Spirit  of  the 
living  Christ  dwells  in  the  lives  of  men. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and 
the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  face 
the  task  of  helping  to  generate  this  great  dyna- 


8o  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

mic.  Their  commission  is  to  work  for  the  kind  of 
Christian  character  among  country  folks  that  is 
the  foundation  of  all  else.  There  is  much  yet 
to  be  done  in  the  country.  We  need  some  great 
unifying  force  that  will  unselfishly  serve  to  co- 
ordinate and  release  all  the  agencies  at  work. 
The  Associations  stand  in  a  peculiarly  strategic 
place  for  being  such  a  unifying  force.  Such  is 
the  task  they  are  facing  and  the  message  they 
are  trying  to  bring.  Not  always  have  they  done 
these  things  as  well  as  they  have  longed  to,  but 
they  hope  to  be  able  to  give  this  great  service 
more  and  more  fully  and  unselfishly  and  ade- 
quately.— Miss  Jessie  Field. 

A  NOTE  OF  HOPE 

My  observation,  unlike  that  of  many,  is  that 
there  is  more  honesty  and  more  uprightness  to- 
day in  business  to  the  square  inch  than  there 
ever  was  before  in  the  history  of  the  nation. 

I  look  with  great  hope  and  cheer  on  this  united 
movement  for  the  uplifting  of  our  country,  which 
shall  reflect  credit  upon  the  efficiency  of  the 
ministry,  of  our  Sunday  school  workers,  of  these 
Association  secretaries,  and  of  the  chairmen  of 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY    8i 

the  different  organizations  throughout  the  coun- 
try. 

God  forbid  that  any  of  us  should  lose  interest 
in  that  fundamental  citizenship  which  has  given 
so  many  good  men  to  every  calling,  from  the 
humblest  up  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United 
States. — Dr.  J.  P.  Landis. 


THE  LUNCHEON 


THE  LUNCHEON 

Editor's  Note: 

At  this  juncture  the  conference  adjourned  to  the 
spacious  banquet  room  of  the  Hotel  La  Salle,  where  the 
conference  delegates  who  had  come  from  afar  were  sup- 
plemented by  a  splendid  contingent  of  Chicago  business 
men.  There  was  evident  a  fine  spirit  of  getting  ac- 
quainted as  the  delegates  formed  themselves  into  small 
"round  table"  informal  luncheon  groups.  After  a  sea- 
son of  refreshment,  the  conference  discussions  were 
continued  then  and  there  in  perhaps  a  lighter  vein  and 
more  freely  than  in  the  academic  atmosphere  of  the 
formal  morning  session. 

Presiding:  John  E.  Wilder 

Chairman  of  Illinois  State  Committee  of  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations 

It  is  said  that  if  he  had  a  lever  long  enough, 
with  a  proper  fulcrum,  one  man  could  move  the 
world.  I  think  we  are  demonstrating  in  this 
Association  work  a  tremendous  leverage,  mov- 
ing the  vital  things  of  this  world,  and  to  those 
of  us  who  have  been  interested  through  the 
years  in  Illinois,  there  is  no  branch  of  the  work 
85 


86  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

which  has  been  more  appealing  than  the  rural 
work. 

We  welcome  you,  therefore,  to  Chicago,  be- 
cause we  feel  that  in  your  deliberations  you  are 
going  to  devise  that  leverage  which  will  take  up 
the  most  practical,  most  helpful,  most  influential 
things,  and  will  thus  help  to  work  out  the  tre- 
mendous country  problem. 

Hon.  B.  F.  Harris 

Ex-Chairman  Agricultural  Commission,   American 
Bankers'  Association 

A  delegate  from  Illinois  has  emphasized  the 
necessity  of  good  roads  from  the  social  side,  and 
another  from  Michigan  has  emphasized  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  better  earning  capacity,  because  a 
better  earning  capacity  is  the  basis  of  a  better 
social  condition;  both  these  features  are  on  the 
human  side. 

It  has  been  my  effort  to  try  to  arouse  and  to 
inspire  a  militant,  aggressive  citizenship  on  the 
part  of  all  of  our  citizens,  because  if  we  have  a 
real  all-American  citizenship  that  is  as  aggres- 
sive and  progressive  as  American  citizenship 
ought  to  be,  it  will  solve  all  of  our  problems. 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY    87 

I  have  just  one  further  thought  to  which  I 
would  give  expression.  It  is  a  thought  that 
actuates  me  in  much  of  my  work,  namely,  that 
whatsoever  we  do  in  life,  we  are  doing  it  for 
ourselves. 

One  of  the  foolish,  old  French  kings  had  just 
completed  a  new  prison.  A  very  clever  woman 
was  making  some  comment  on  the  prison  and 
he  asked  her  just  what  she  thought  of  it.  She 
said,  "Sire,  if  I  were  you,  I  would  build  no  dark 
cells,  for  you  and  your  children  may  inhabit 
them." 

That  is  one  of  the  things  that  we  are  asking 
bankers  to  look  out  for  in  their  respective  com- 
munities; to  see  that  we  have  fewer  of  these 
dark  cells,  not  alone  in  the  country,  but  through- 
out the  nation.  This  is  what  our  militant  citi- 
zenship would  yield. 

I  have  been  greatly  interested  in  seeing  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  take  up  this 
splendid  country  life  work.  There  is  very  much 
to  be  done  and  most  of  it  has  to  do  with  the 
young  folks — the  boys  and  girls  on  the  farm — 
with  boys'  and  girls'  clubs,  with  community 
clubs  and  community  centers,  and  with  making 
the  country  church  a  real  and  living  seven-days- 


88  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

a-week  proposition.  Service  is  the  watchword 
today  and  if  real  service  is  not  rendered,  no 
headway  is  made.  Many  country  schools  are 
failing  to  do  their  work  just  as  much  as  are  the 
country  churches.  The  country  leader  who  can 
talk  in  terms  of  the  farm  and  soil  can  straighten 
out  all  these  matters.  It  is  one  of  the  greatest 
and  most  fruitful  works  to  be  undertaken. 

It  seems  to  me,  in  these  very  serious  times,  the 
most  serious  times  in  the  history  of  this  gener- 
ation or  of  any  generation  in  this  country,  that 
we  must  lay  the  greatest  stress  upon  the  duties 
of  citizenship ;  and  all  of  us  should  ask  ourselves 
what  this  country,  what  our  respective  communi- 
ties would  be,  if  all  of  its  citizens  were  the  type 
of  citizen  that  we  are.  I  think  if  we  answer 
that  question  honestly,  in  many  cases  we  will 
find  that  we  have  not  qualified  as  constructive 
citizens. 

And  so  always  in  the  work  that  I  have  tried 
to  do  with  the  bankers,  I  have  borne  down  on 
this  point  and  I  feel  that  we  have  been  making 
good  headway  along  this  line.  We  are  getting 
the  bankers  interested  in  agriculture,  because 
most  of  the  bankers  in  this  country  are  located 
at  the  cross  roads  and  in  agricultural  sections. 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY    89 

We  have  enlisted  them  earnestly  in  the  work  for 
a  better  agriculture,  and  want  them  as  well  and 
favorably  known  out  in  front  of  their  counters 
as  they  are  behind  them. 

It  seems  to  me  that  more  men  are  thinking  less 
of  material  things  nowadays  and  are  realizing 
more  than  ever  that  we  need  something  besides 
the  dollar  to  save  us  from  failure. 

In  the  days  that  are  to  come  it  will  matter 
little  whether  we  amass  a  big  fortune  or  reach 
some  conspicuous  position  in  life.  But  it  will 
make  a  very  lasting  and  vital  difference  how 
much  each  of  us  stands  for  an  honest  life,  for 
all  the  things  that  go  to  make  life  worth  while, 
and  for  the  ideal  that  the  man  or  woman  who 
does  the  best  he  or  she  can  in  these  directions 
is  successful,  even  though  he  or  she  die  without 
a  dollar. 

C.  L.  RowE 

State  Secretary  for  County  Work  in  Michigan 

I  will  not  dwell  on  the  familiar  fact  that 
Michigan  has  a  splendid  body  of  people,  who  are 
responsive  to  the  best  methods  and  plans  of  the 
different   organizations   dealing   with   the   rural 


90  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

field  and  the  part  each  should  play  in  bringing  in 
a  better  rural  life. 

The  reason  this  County  Association  has  had 
marked  success  in  our  state  is  due  to  the  method 
of  organization,  which  combines  the  resources 
of  a  county  in  men  and  funds  under  the  direc- 
tion of  a  committee  of  business  men  selected 
from  the  county.  This  makes  possible  the  em- 
ployment of  a  trained  executive  to  carry  out  the 
work  for  the  entire  field,  and  gives  to  the  moral 
forces  of  a  county  what  good  roads  give  to  the 
economic  forces,  a  means  of  communication 
whereby  we  can  carry  to  any  community  in  that 
field  the  best  things  along  the  line  of  religious, 
social,  educational,  and  recreational  activities. 

This  plan  also  makes  available  to  any  com- 
munity the  expert  knowledge  and  help  of  or- 
ganizations dealing  with  the  various  phases  of 
community  life. 

Another  vital  factor  in  the  success  of  this 
work  is  the  splendid  men  and  women  who  are  in 
every  community  and  are  anxious  to  render 
service  on  the  volunteer  basis  for  the  young  peo- 
ple. Our  county  organization  gives  us  the 
opportunity  to  bring  to  those  people  not  only  the 
sixty   years'    experience   of   the   Young   Men's 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE^ITS  COMMUNITY    91 

Christian  Associations  in  specialized  effort  for 
men  and  boys,  but  also  the  best  experience  of 
other  organizations  along  this  line.  In  this  way 
unwise  attempts  at  the  work  are  avoided, 
while  the  best  methods  gathered  from  the  ends 
of  the  earth  are  available  for  the  leader. 

Another  element  of  strength  is  the  natural 
grouping  of  the  boys  of  these  communities, 
which  gives  us  the  opportunity,  through  the 
leader,  of  supplementing  the  work  of  the  home, 
school,  and  church.  The  fundamental  principles 
of  life  are  translated  into  character  as  these  boys 
work  and  play  together  in  their  groups. 

This  plan  is  operating  ,in  nineteen  of  Michi- 
gan's counties  at  the  present  time,  supervised  by 
540  business  men  serving  in  the  capacity  of  county 
committeemen  with  twenty-two  executive  and 
supervising  secretaries,  enrolling  4,750  boys  and 
young  men  in  service-rendering  activities.  The 
Department  of  Agriculture  is  conducting  agri- 
cultural project  work  with  hundreds  of  boys 
and  girls  in  our  groups. 

The  success  of  the  County  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  in  these  organized  fields  is  sub- 
jecting the  State  Committee  to  constant  pressure 
for  the  work  in  unorganized  counties. 


92  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

Howard  Hubbell 
State  Secretary  for  County  Work  in  Wisconsin 

No  intelligent  group  of  people  could  discuss 
rural  problems  at  length  without  recognizing 
that  running  through  all  the  plans  presented, 
there  is  needed,  in  order  to  make  these  effective, 
a  vital  element.  Whether  we  consider  the  coun- 
try school,  the  country  home,  the  country  church, 
or  the  country  community,  there  must  be  that 
unselfish  human  element  which  seeks  to  render 
service,  if  these  institutions  would  make  prog- 
ress in  meeting  the  conditions  that  must  be  en- 
countered and  overcome.  That  element  is  defi- 
nite and  distinct  volunteer  leadership. 

The  school  may  have  its  teachers,  but  there 
must  be  a  response  and  a  responsibility  on  the 
part  of  older  pupils  and  of  parents  in  the  leader- 
ship of  certain  tasks  in  the  life  of  the  school; 
the  church  has  its  paid  ministers,  but  the  minis- 
try of  unpaid  service  on  the  part  of  individuals 
will  alone  make  the  church  successful;  the  home 
has  its  parents  to  direct  it,  but  there  must  be 
those  other  members  of  the  family  who  bear  re- 
sponsibility. The  community  has  its  officials  and 
laws,  but  of  what  use  are  these,  if  there  are  no 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY    93 

volunteers  in  the  society  of  the  community  who 
will  give  leadership  to  certain  needed  reforms 
and  movements  ? 

The  County  Work  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  in  seeking  to  make  its  contribu- 
tion to  country  life  as  a  whole,  sets  for  itself  the 
objective  of  helping  to  discover  and  train  these 
volunteer  leaders.  Recognizing  that  these  other 
institutions  must  have  first  place  in  any  com- 
munity, the  Association  would  seek  only  to  find 
these  natural  leaders  and  set  them  at  work,  each 
in  his  own  place  of  service.  It  is  in  the  person- 
ality of  those  individual  boys  and  young  men, 
who  make  up  the  community  in  which  their 
home  is,  that  leadership  is  found.  Every  such 
individual  has  an  influence  in  his  own  little 
circle  or  group.  The  County  Secretary  of  the 
Association  finds  this  natural  group,  puts  in 
charge  thereof  the  natural  leader,  arranges  for 
their  weekly  meetings  and  their  program,  and 
sets  for  each  such  group  a  specific  task  within  the 
community,  the  doing  of  which  task  will  spell 
progress.  The  standard  program  of  the  Asso- 
ciation is  at  least  four-fold  in  its  plan.  It  recog- 
nizes the  supplementary  educational  needs,  and 
provides  debates  and  practical  talks;  it  believes 


94  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

in  the  spiritual  needs  and  has  Bible  study  at 
every  meeting;  it  takes  part  in  the  physical  life 
and  has  plenty  of  athletics ;  it  also  recognizes  the 
social  desires,  and  puts  all  these  four  elements 
into  the  word  ''program."  These  groups  hold 
meetings  around  the  dining  room  table  of  the 
country  home,  in  the  country  school  house,  or  in 
the  country  church,  the  town  hall,  the  doctor's 
office,  or  in  the  bank  directors'  rooms.  Wher- 
ever they  meet,  the  important  thing  is  creating 
in  this  group  the  spirit  of  the  "other  fellow 
first."  A  man,  a  leader  with  a  direct  responsi- 
bility to  this  group,  with  the  training  the  Secre- 
tary gives  him,  develops  volunteer  leadership  in 
all  members  of  the  group,  so  that  they  learn  the 
lessons  of  responsibility  for  the  living  of  the 
kind  of  life  in  the  community  that  ought  to  be 
lived,  for  making  the  community  what  it  ought 
to  be,  for  creating  the  moral  atmosphere  among 
high  school  pupils  that  ought  to  exist,  for  giving 
the  country  church  the  help  it  ought  to  have,  and 
for  making  the  village  the  kind  of  a  place  it 
ought  to  be. 

In  nine  Wisconsin  counties  we  have  county 
secretaries  located.  They  are  working  in  seventy 
communities,    with    ninety   local    groups,    each 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY     95 

group  with  its  leader,  but  all  members  develop- 
ing leadership,  among  a  membership  of  fifteen 
hundred.  However,  not  in  the  group  life  alone 
does  the  County  Work  find  its  field.  There  are 
county-wide  and  community  events,  boys*  camps, 
conferences,  athletic  meets,  and  agricultural 
contests.  Through  this  last  form  of  activity,  the 
economic  element  is  stressed,  and  it  is  well  not 
to  forget  the  place  of  the  economic  in  country 
life,  for  the  very  elements  of  the  educational, 
social,  and  religious  life  conditions  find  a  basis 
in  the  economic  conditions  of  the  country.  In 
two  Wisconsin  counties  contests  in  dragging  the 
dirt  roads  are  being  held  with  nearly  one  hun- 
dred boys  engaged.  Small  prizes  are  offered, 
and  county  secretaries  are  giving  supervision. 
The  roads  will  be  bettered,  no  doubt,  but  more 
important  is  the  making  of  better  character  in 
the  boys  who  drag  them,  because  they  have  had 
a  part  to  play  in  that  country  community,  and 
are  learning  the  lesson  of  leadership  and  co- 
operation. 

As  regards  the  school  problem,  or  the  country 
church  problem,  or  the  country  life  problem, 
the  thing  we  need  to  do  is  to  realize  the  task 
that  must  be  done,  find  the  field  in  which  to 


96  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

work,  organize  ils  elements,  find  those  natural 
leaders  who  belong  to  the  soil  and,  with  a  new 
angle  of  approach  to  some  of  the  problems,  make 
of  each  leader  the  factor  he  ought  to  be  in  creat- 
ing the  new  country  civilization.  And  so  this 
element  of  leadership  amongst  the  boys  of  these 
country  towns  must  be  set  at  work,  not  in  any 
general  or  overhead  way,  but  in  the  simple  every 
day  manner  they  can  understand  in  connection 
with  school,  home,  and  community  tasks  to 
which  they  are  accustomed,  and  which  develop 
in  them  that  wonderful  element  of  responsibility 
or  leadership. 

This  statement  about  the  County  Work  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  would  not 
be  complete  if  I  did  not  include  this  last  point, 
that  in  the  doing  of  this  work  in  each  county 
there  must  stand  back  of  each  county  secretary 
a  group  of  Christian  business  men,  to  see  that 
the  county  movement  is  financed  and  to  employ 
a  secretary  for  each  field.  For  the  Wisconsin 
state  movement,  we  have  a  group  of  twelve 
men  who  raise  the  money  to  extend  the  work 
from  county  to  county.  Without  the  aid  of 
these  business  and  agricultural  leaders,  the  plan 
would  not  be  in  operation.    Without  these  men 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY    97 

and  the  secretaries  employed  in  the  fields,  multi- 
plying their  lives  into  the  lives  of  other  men  and 
boys,  this  work  would  not  be  done,  this  leader- 
ship would  not  be  developed. 

T.  B.  Lanham 
State   Secretary  for  County  Work  in  Ohio 

Almost  every  magazine  one  picks  up,  and 
almost  every  one  you  meet  is  discussing  rural 
life.  I  just  wonder  after  all  how  many  of  us 
really  know  the  solution  of  the  problem.  I  wel- 
come all  the  help  we  can  get  from  our  friends 
in  the  cities,  and  I  grant  that  they  can  help  us 
tremendously,  but  some  of  the  city  folks'  ideas 
of  country  life  remind  me  of  the  following  which 
I  ran  across  some  time  ago: 

"I  would  flee  from  the  city's  rule  and  law — 
from  its  fashions  and  forms  cut  loose — and  go 
where  the  strawberry  grows  on  its  straw  and  the 
gooseberry  grows  on  its  goose ;  where  the  catnip 
tree  is  climbed  by  the  cat  as  it  clutches  for  its 
prey — the  guileless  and  unsuspecting  rat  on  the 
rattan  bush  at  play;  I  will  catch  with  ease  the 
saffron  cow  and  the  cowlets  in  their  glee,  as 
they  leap  in  joy  from  bough  to  bough  on  the  top 
of  the  cow-slip  tree;  and  list  while  the  partridge 


98  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

drums  his  drum  and  the  woodchuck  chucks  his 
wood,  and  the  dog  devours  the  dog  wood  plum 
in  the  primitive  solitude.  O  let  me  drink  from 
the  moss-grown  pump,  that  was  hewn  from  the 
pumpkin  tree,  eat  mush  and  milk  from  the  rural 
stump  from  folly  and  fashion  free — new  gath- 
ered mush  from  the  mushroom  vine,  and  milk 
from  the  milk  weed  sweet — with  pine  apples 
from  the  pine.  And  then  to  the  whitewashed 
dairy  I'll  turn,  where  the  maid  there  hastening 
hies,  her  ruddy  and  golden-red  butter  to  churn 
from  the  milk  of  her  butterflies;  and  I'll  rise 
at  morn  with  the  earliest  bird,  to  the  fragrant 
farmyard  pass,  and  watch  while  the  farmer 
turns  his  herd  of  grasshoppers  out  to  grass." 

To  establish  County  Work — after  the  State 
County  Work  Secretary  is  secured,  he  should 
get  a  knowledge  of  his  field,  and  select  a  county 
in  which  to  demonstrate  the  work.  This  should 
be  done  as  rapidly  as  a  county  secretary  can  be 
secured  and  committeemen  pledged  to  stand  by 
him. 

There  are  three  distinct  things  to  be  under- 
taken in  a  county. 

First:  To  develop  the  group  work  in  the  dif- 
ferent   centers   of   that    county,    organizing   an 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE^ITS  COMMUNITY    99 

Association,  just  as  soon  as  leadership  is  found. 
This  Association  undertakes  the  four-fold  work 
— social,  educational,  physical,  and  ^religious. 

Second:  To  promote  county-wide  activities 
throughout  the  county,  such  as  county-wide 
athletic  meets,  agricultural  contests,  boys'  con- 
ferences, and  educational  trips. 

Third :  To  cooperate  with  the  agencies  already 
existing  in  that  county  such  as  home,  school, 
church,  Sunday  school,  agricultural  agencies, 
Grange,  farmers'  institutes,  etc.  In  fact,  the 
county  secretary  can  become  the  man  in  that 
county  who  will  be  the  best  informed  on  the 
county's  interests.  The  pastor  looks  at  it  from 
his  church  standpoint;  the  agricultural  agencies 
look  at  the  matter  from  their  standpoint;  the 
school  man  from  his  viewpoint,  but  the  County 
Secretary  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation is  studying  it  from  all  viewpoints,  so 
that  his  office  can  become  the  clearing  house  for 
every  agency  in  the  county. 

L.  Wilbur  Messer 

General  Secretary,   Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association 

I  would  call  to  mind  the  self-evident  fact  that 


100  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

men  who  make  good  in  the  city,  as  a  rule,  have 
been  born  in  the  country  and  that  the  impact 
of  the  best  influences  of  rural  life  has  been  the 
most  important  factor  in  their  success  in  city 
life.  This  has  been  my  own  experience.  If  to 
any  degree  I  have  been  useful  for  the  past 
twenty-eight  years  in  Chicago,  it  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  my  early  life  was  spent  in  a  small  New 
England  country  town,  where  I  received  the 
benefit  of  the  constructive  forces  of  such  a  com- 
munity. 

I  appreciate  the  significance,  therefore,  of  all 
that  this  movement  represents  in  the  betterment 
of  rural  life  and  realize  the  necessity  of  the 
splendid  activities  which  are  being  introduced 
and  developed  for  the  betterment  of  young  men 
and  boys.  I  am  grateful  that  through  this  move- 
ment we  are  able  to  serve  the  boy  from  the  town 
or  country  as  he  goes  to  college  or  to  the  larger 
city  where  he  may  enter  commercial  or  indus- 
trial life,  by  introducing  him  to  the  companion- 
ship of  earnest  Christian  men,  and  to  the  fellow- 
ship of  organizations  which  will  assist  him  in 
his  highest  development  for  economic,  social, 
and  civic  life. 

It  is  my  judgment  that  the  city  Young  Men's 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY  loi 

Christian  Associations  increasingly  realize  their 
responsibility  to  the  country  boy,  and  that  their 
plans  and  methods  are  now  adjusted  to  serve 
such  boys  as  they  enter  upon  their  city  experi- 
ences. The  corresponding  members  in  small 
towns  and  villages,  who  send  the  names  of  such 
young  men  to  the  city  Associations,  make  possi- 
ble an  immediate  welcome  to  these  strangers  in 
a  strange  city. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Hotel 
recently  opened  in  Chicago,  with  its  1,823  single 
rooms,  rented  at  as  low  charges  as  thirty,  forty, 
and  fifty  cents  a  night,  is  one  of  the  latest  forces 
for  safeguarding  the  life  of  the  country  boy.  The 
business  men  of  Chicago  have  realized  that  such 
a  hotel,  with  attractive  lobbies  and  daily  enter- 
tainments, lectures  and  religious  services,  all  in 
the  midst  of  a  Christian  environment,  where  no 
membership  fee  is  charged,  is  a  necessary  clear- 
ing house  for  transient  young  men. 

During  the  first  four  months  in  the  operation 
of  the  hotel  more  than  35,000  men  and  boys  were 
registered  as  guests.  Association  leaders  in 
Illinois,  realizing  the  growing  strength  and  effi- 
ciency of  the  city  and  college  Associations  and 
the  increasingly  effective  service  for  the  indus- 


102  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

trial  classes,  now  feel  their  obligation  to  give 
special  attention  to  the  development  of  Associa- 
tion service  in  the  rural  districts  of  our  state. 

We  hope  that  business  men  will  be  given  a 
new  vision  and  that  funds  will  be  forthcoming, 
whereby  an  adequate  number  of  men  may  be 
employed  to  demonstrate  this  County  Work  with 
the  same  efficiency  which  has  characterized  the 
other  departments  of  the  Association  in  the  state 
of  Illinois. 

There  is  no  department  of  Association  work 
which  appeals  to  me  more  strongly  than  the 
County  Work  Department.  I  know  what  it 
meant  to  me  at  a  critical  time  in  my  life  to  have 
a  young  man  put  his  life  alongside  of  my  own 
and  lead  me  into  a  definite  Christian  experience. 
In  some  way  or  other  we  must  be  able  to  do  this 
kind  of  service  for  the  young  men  of  the  coun- 
try. I  believe  that  this  County  Work  Depart- 
ment of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
is  destined  to  become  the  most  significant  phase 
of  Association  service  yet  introduced  by  our 
world-wide  Brotherhood. 


THE  EVENING  BANQUET 


THE  EVENING  BANQUET 

Editor's  Note: 

Intent  on  making  a  full  day  of  it,  and  with  no  signs 
of  any  decline  in  the  interest  or  spirit  of  the  conference, 
the  delegates  met  at  the  more  formal  dinner  in  the 
evening,  for  what  may  well  be  considered  the  climax  of 
the  conference.  The  more  scientific  and  academic  dis- 
cussions gave  way  to  messages  that  were  dynamic  and 
challenging.  It  was  the  period  when  personality  stood 
out  against  a  background  of  strong  group  consciousness 
and  singleness  of  purpose. 

Presiding:  Albert  J.  Nason 

Member  of  County  Work  Department  Sub-Committee, 

International  Committee  of  Youngj  Men's 

Christian  Associations 

This  is  the  first  conference  of  this  character 
that  has  been  held  in  the  West,  although  several 
have  been  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  County 
Work  Department  of  the  International  Commit- 
tee in  New  York. 

I  am  sure  that  if  we  could  remain  about  two 
days  longer  and  discuss  and  digest  the  subjects 
presented,  it  would  be  well  worth  while. 
105 


io6  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

K.  A.  Shumaker 

Secretary   Illinois   State   Committee   of   Young   Men's 
Christian  Associations 

I  am  especially  interested  in  the  contribution 
which  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
through  its  County  Work  Department  is  to  make 
to  country  life.  A  beginning  has  been  made,  in 
many  of  the  states,  in  the  matter  of  surveys  of 
the  field  and  the  shaping  of  the  work  of  the  or- 
ganization to  meet  the  specific  needs  of  the  coun- 
try young  men  and  boys.  A  special  type  of 
leadership  has  been  found  and  County  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  work  in  a  consider- 
able number  of  states  is  an  established  fact. 

While  Illinois  has  led  in  much  of  the  pioneer 
work  of  the  Association,  we  find  ourselves  at  the 
present  time  in  the  somewhat  embarrassed  posi- 
tion of  trailing  the  procession.  Through  the  ac- 
tion of  our  State  Committee  and  through  the 
sympathetic  attitude  of  the  Associations  of  our 
state,  this  will  not  long  be  the  case.  We  antici- 
pate putting  a  state  rural  worker  on  the  force 
of  our  State  Committee  and  a  year  hence  we  ex- 
pect to  be  in  position  to  report  some  unusual 
progress. 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE^ITS  COMMUNITY  107 

Rev.  Charles  Melvin  McConnell 

Lakeville  and  Newkirk  Circuit,   Northern  Ohio   Con- 
ference, Methodist  Episcopal  Church 

A  body  of  responsible  men  and  women,  as- 
sembled in  conference  to  plan  for  a  balanced 
rural  life  progress,  can  do  much  toward  the  solu- 
tion of  rural  life  problems.  I  am  not  one  who 
would  minimize  the  splendid  part  that  such 
gatherings  are  to  play  in  the  rural  life  program, 
nor,  on  the  other  hand,  am  I  forgetful  of  the 
fact  that  the  final  trench  that  is  to  be  taken  is 
back  home.  We  may  sit  in  conference  and  study 
and  outline  a  plan  that  will  touch  every  phase 
of  rural  life.  But  in  the  mud  and  dust  and  heat 
and  cold,  in  every  rural  community  and  village, 
we  must  meet  the  final  test  and  work  the  plan  if 
we  are  to  be  sure  of  its  value. 

In  the  last  analysis  we  must  have  men  and 
women  who  will  plan  wisely  with  the  facts  well 
in  mind,  and  men  and  women  who  will  under- 
take to  put  these  plans  into  operation.  Unless 
we  have  wise  planning,  the  workers  in  the  field 
will  fail  in  the  largest  results,  and  without  work- 
ers in  the  field  the  wisest  planning  will  be  of  no 
avail. 


io8  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

May  I  indicate  briefly  what  we  are  trying  to 
accomplish  in  our  rural  parish?  For  our  com- 
munity we  desire  the  best.  We  want  thorough- 
bred stock  and  productive  farms.  Good  roads 
and  fair  markets  for  our  produce  are  necessary. 
We  must  have  schools  that  are  equal  to  the  task 
of  educating  our  youth  and  preparing  them  for 
life  either  in  city  or  country.  It  is  our  aim  to 
provide  a  wholesome  and  uplifting  type  of  recre- 
ation and  social  life  for  both  young  and  old.  In 
all  our  activities  we  are  not  unmindful  of  the 
fact  that  the  community  has  a  soul.  If  we  lose 
sight  of  this  fact,  we  will  surely  fail  even  in  our 
lesser  aims.  The  church  faces  the  supreme  chal- 
lenge and  mighty  task  of  Christianizing  both  the 
individual  and  the  community.  In  all  the  ex- 
acting demands  made  upon  her,  the  rural  church 
must  find  her  place  in  rural  life  and  set  herself 
to  her  task.  We  are  trying  to  build  up  and 
strengthen  the  church.  If  new  methods  are  nec- 
essary, then  we  shall  use  them.  In  this  effort 
to  strengthen  the  church  we  have  in  mind  the 
needs  of  the  community  and  are  seeking  to  save 
and  to  serve  the  community  through  the  church. 

One  phase  of  the  work  we  select  to  use  as  an 
illustration.     In  our  community  we  are  trying 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY  109 

to  provide  wholesome  recreation  and  social  life 
for  young  and  old  alike.  We  believe  that  it  is 
not  enough  to  condemn  the  questionable  and 
unwholesome  forms  of  social  life  and  recreation. 
We  must  substitute  the  good  for  the  evil.  Our 
church  is  open  to  young  and  old  as  a  social  cen- 
ter. Groups  of  young  men  and  women  meet 
regularly  in  the  social  rooms  of  the  church  for 
the  enriching  of  their  social  and  recreational 
life.  Often  we  go  outside  the  church  and  rent 
rooms  for  this  purpose.  Groups  of  men  and 
boys  meet  in  a  room  fitted  up  over  a  store  and 
spend  one  evening  a  week  in  games,  and  in  dis- 
cussion of  community  problems,  or  in  some 
other  wholesome  manner.  From  time  to  time 
the  community  comes  together  and  enjoys  the 
day  or  evening  thoroughly,  and  families  return 
home  feeling  that  it  is  good  to  live  in  this  com- 
munity. 

The  solution  of  the  problem  of  rural  life  will 
come  through  the  efforts  of  Christian  people. 
After  Christian  leaders  in  every  phase  of  rural 
activity  have  wisely  planned.  Christian  men  and 
women  must  work  out  the  plan  in  the  quiet  coun- 
trysides and  villages  which  comprise  rural 
America. 


no  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

Albert  E.  Roberts 

Senior  Secretary,   County  Work  Department,  Interna- 
tional  Committee   of    Young   Men's    Christian 
Associations 

It  has  been  widely  emphasized  that  the  success 
of  any  organization  or  institution  in  country 
life  depends  first,  upon  unselfish  leadership,  and 
second,  on  volunteer  service. 

There  are  apparently  no  organizations  better 
calculated  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  country  along 
the  line  of  social  and  spiritual  advancement  than 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association.  They 
have  access  to  the  towns  and  rural  communities 
and  the  projects  which  they  promote  have  a 
direct  relation  to  better  schools,  better  churches, 
and  better  homes.  No  appeal  is  made  to  the 
members  of  these  organizations  to  join  simply 
for  what  they  can  get  out  of  them,  but  rather  on 
the  basis  of  what  they  can  put  into  them  in  the 
way  of  unselfish  service.  There  are  no  privi- 
leges except  the  privilege  of  hard  work,  and  it  is 
a  joy  to  note  the  splendid  response  which  edu- 
cated young  men  and  women  are  giving  to  ap- 
peals for  this  sort  of  membership. 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY  in 

The  country  will  never  come  to  its  own  until 
a  fair  number  of  educated  young  men  and 
women  recognize  that  there  is  not  only  a  re- 
sponsibility and  opportunity  to  serve  in  the  coun- 
try districts,  but  that  there  is  a  compensating 
joy  in  such  service  comparable  to  that  which 
any  service  in  the  city  or  the  foreign  field  offers. 

Some  have  seen  the  vision  of  the  possibility 
of  service  in  the  country  church  and  are  pouring 
their  lives  into  the  rebuilding  of  rural  communi- 
ties with  magnificent  results.  Such  leadership 
becomes  contagious  and  the  hope  of  changing 
country  conditions  lies  in  enlisting,  as  rapidly 
as  possible,  men  and  women  who  not  only  see 
the  vision  of  service,  but  who  are  willing  to  pay 
the  price. 

Recently  at  a  dinner  in  Michigan,  the  toast- 
master  stated  that  he  was  a  product  of  a  quiet 
but  very  effective  work  which  had  been  estab- 
lished by  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
in  his  county  ten  years  before.  The  chairman 
of  the  County  Committee  was  present  that  night, 
with  five  other  prominent  men.  All  gave  testi- 
mony to  the  fact  that  the  beginning  of  their 
vision  of  service  was  the  County  Work  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 


112  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

These  Associations  do  not  exist  for  them- 
selves, but  rather  that  they  may  supplement  and 
make  effective  the  permanent  organizations  of 
the  community.  They  furnish  a  common  plat- 
form upon  which  the  different  elements  of  the 
community  may  unite  for  community  enter- 
prises. They  make  possible  the  working  to- 
gether of  religious  and  educational  forces  which 
otherwise  would  be  hopelessly  divided. 

While  these  Associations  are  quietly  working 
along  lines  in  which  the  entire  community  may 
participate,  the  troublesome  question  of  the  get- 
ting together  of  homes,  churches,  and  other  in- 
stitutions solves  itself.  Their  largest  service, 
therefore,  is  the  service  of  "suggestion.  As  a 
direct  result  of  quiet  work,  churches  have  fed- 
erated in  some  communities  where  such  a 
federation  meant  the  elimination  of  superfluous 
organizations.  As  a  result,  the  united  efforts 
of  the  Christian  people  of  the  community  have 
been  brought  to  bear  upon  social  and  moral 
problems.  Such  service  cannot  fail  to  be  of  in- 
estimable value  to  any  community. 

These  organizations  should  be  widely  ex- 
tended, also,  because  of  the  pressing  need  for 
world  leadership  which  is  being  brought  about 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY  113 

as  a  result  of  the  European  War.  One  is  re- 
minded in  Canada  of  the  price  that  all  the  war- 
ring nations  are  paying  in  the  sacrifice  of  the 
very  flower  of  their  manhood.  A  recent  visit  to 
Canada  brought  me  face  to  face  with  experi- 
ences difficult  to  describe.  These  countries  have 
caught  a  spirit  of  sacrifice  in  service  unknown 
in  our  own  country.  Surely  we  must  have  some 
part  in  the  Providence  of  God  in  this  most  aw- 
ful tragedy  through  which  the  world  is  now 
passing,  and  it  would  seem  that  boys  and  girls 
of  America  will  soon  be  called  to  places  of 
leadership,  the  like  of  which  their  fathers  and 
mothers  have  not  faced.  No  field  is  so  profitable 
in  potentiality  for  this  sort  of  leadership,  involv- 
ing strength  of  will  and  Christian  character,  as 
is  that  of  the  country  communities.  But  the 
institutions  in  the  country  are  weak,  leaders  of 
the  home,  church,  and  school  have  been  ruth- 
lessly drawn  to  the  building  up  of  big  cities, 
until  the  time  has  come  when  in  order  to  save 
the  city,  the  nation,  and  the  world,  as  well  as 
the  country  community  itself,  life  and  energy 
must  be  poured  back  into  the  country. 

There  remains,  therefore,  a  great  opportunity 
for  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and 


114  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  as 
allies  of  the  church  and  home  and  school,  to  see 
to  it  that  there  is  poured  back  into  the  reservoir 
of  power  consecrated  young  life,  that  shall  insist 
that,  along  with  the  splendid  economic  improve- 
ments which  are  making  conditions  so  much  bet- 
ter in  the  country,  there  shall  come  a  corre- 
sponding spiritual  and  social  regeneration,  and 
that  young  people  shall  see  in  the  country  a  mine 
of  magnificent  leadership  resources  which,  if 
properly  worked,  will  produce  the  kind  of  men 
and  women  who  shall  make  country  life  worth 
while  and  who  shall  be  able  to  measure  up  to 
the  world's  call  for  a  fellowship  of  reconcilia- 
tion and  the  reestablishment  of  peace  on  earth 
and  good  will  to  men. 

D.  Hunter  McAlpin,  M.D. 

Chairman    County   Work   Department   Sub-Committee, 

International   Committee  of  Young  Men's 

Christian  Associations 

It  has  been  a  great  privilege  to  attend  the  Chi- 
cago Conference  and  to  listen  to  the  topics  that 
have  been  discussed.  I  have  been  particularly 
impressed  with  the  part  which  our  sister  organi- 


THE  COUNTRYSIDE— ITS  COMMUNITY  115 

zation,  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, is  playing  in  country  life  and  the  fine  enthu- 
siasm and  practical  effort  which  the  womanhood 
of  the  land  is  demonstrating  all  along  the  line. 
It  is  significant  that  we  can  work  together  for  the 
accomplishment  of  a  great  purpose.  The  univer- 
sal interest  in  the  Conference,  the  lively  discus- 
sions on  country  life  in  the  community,  the  reso- 
lutions presented  and  adopted,  emphasizing 
service  as  the  foundation  on  which  any  organi- 
zation can  build,  certainly  guarantee  the  success 
of  the  work  in  a  community. 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  come  out  of  one's 
every-day  business  life  and  to  meet  the  men  and 
women  of  this  great  country-life  movement. 
One  feels  a  bit  selfish  staying  at  home  and  grop- 
ing around  in  a  small  circle,  after  catching  the 
spirit  of  the  folks  out  on  the  broad  acres  and 
bountiful  farms  of  our  West.  I  want  to  con- 
gratulate you  on  this  conference.  Here  the  best 
men  and  women  of  the  country-life  movement 
have  met  not  only  for  a  better  understanding 
of  what  lies  in  the  background  of  the  mind,  but 
to  catch  the  spirit  of  pioneer  souls  and  of  heart 
power.  As  we  go  out  to  the  wide  fields  of  serv- 
ice and  meet  the  youth,  particularly,  there  is  no 


ii6  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

telling  what  the  vast  possibilities  will  be.  We 
all  can  sow  and  as  we  sow  so  will  the  harvest 
of  truth  and  spirit  be.  I  look  for  a  great  genera- 
tion in  the  future,  born  of  new  ideals  for  our 
countryside  and  resulting  from  these  new  de- 
partures of  interstate  efforts  among  all  of  you. 


APPENDICES 


APPENDICES 

APPENDIX  I 

Editor's  Note:  A  Findings  Committee,  appointed  at 
the  morning  session  of  the  conference,  presented  the 
following  report,  which  was  unanimously  adopted. 

REPORT  OF  FINDINGS  COMMITTEE 

Whereas,  this  Conference  is  concerned  with  the 
principles  and  facts  having  to  do  with  the  balanced 
rural  life; 

Therefore,  be  it 

Resolved:  That  the  goal  of  rural  life  is  a  Christian 
community  in  which  individuals  and  institutions  accept 
and  practice  the  principles  of  each  for  all  and  all 'for 
each; 

Be  it  further  Resolved:  That  the  goal  of  rural  life 
can  be  achieved  only  by  workers  and  agencies  who  are 
inspired  with  the  ideal  of  Christian  service  and  sacri- 
fice; 

Be  it  further  Resolved:  That  this  ideal  can  be  con- 
summated only  under  the  leadership  of  men  and 
women,  volunteer  or  paid,  who  dedicate  their  lives 
through  the  various  agencies  and  institutions  to  the 
country  as  a  field  of  life  investment; 

Be  it  further  Resolved:  That  the  above  program  can 
be  realized  in  the  community  only  through  a  sympa- 
119 


120  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

thetic  and  mutual  cooperation  of  all  the  agencies  func- 
tioning in  the  rural  field; 

Be  it  further  Resolved:  That  this  conference,  recog- 
nizing the  interdependence  of  country  and  city,  desires 
to  emphasize  the  need  of  a  more  sympathetic  under- 
standing and  cooperation  between  the  two  in  the  solv- 
ing of  social  and  religious,  as  well  as  economic  prob- 
lems; 

Be  it  further  Resolved  :  That,  recognizing  the  value  of 
this  conference,  we  recommend  a  continuance  of  such 
gatherings  from  year  to  year. 

J.  M.  Artman,  C.  M.  McConnell, 

E.  I.  Antrim,  C.  L.  Rowe, 

H.  R.  Earle. 


APPENDIX  II 

CONTRIBUTIONS  IN  ABSENTIA 
A  Letter 

"I   am   pastor   here   of   one   of   the   two   Federated 

Churches  in  .     We  had  three  English-speaking 

churches  here,  but  this  place  is  not  large  enough  to 
support  three  English  and  two  German  churches — a 
town  of  500  people. 

"The  M.  E.,  Congregational,  and  Baptist  congrega- 
tions united  and  formed  the  Federated  Church 

and  called  a  United  Presbyterian  minister.  As  the  Fed- 
erated representative  I  would  like  to  have  gone  to  the 
coming  convention  very  much.  However,  I  am  in  per- 
fect sympathy  with  the  meeting  and  will  say  this  con- 
cerning the  subjects  assigned. 

"They  are  of  vital  importance.  Oh,  that  people  could 
see  the  need  of  spiritual  life  in  all  those  four  depart- 
ments! Many  came  here  expecting  to  obtain  large  and 
quick  returns  from  their  money  investments.  Many 
were  bitten  by  speculators.  But  as  they  could  not  sell 
for  anything  like  what  they  gave,  they  had  to  stay.  As 
their  money  gave  out,  they  could  not  dress  as  well  as 
formerly,  etc.,  consequently  they  began  staying  at  home, 
thus  neglecting  church,  and  they  have  become  hardened 
against  mankind.  Neglecting  the  means  of  grace,  away 
from  school  privileges,  etc.,  the  home  life  lost  spirit- 
121 


122  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

uality  and  refinement;  consequently  the  community  life 
did  not  tell  for  righteousness. 

"It  is  a  very  difficult  task  to  reach  such  people  today 
with  the  Gospel.  It  takes  much  labor,  patience,  prayer, 
and  perseverance. 

"The  financial  situation  today  is  very  much  improved 
here  compared  to  what  it  was  ten  years  ago.  We  have 
a  splendid  irrigation  system,  people  are  making  money, 
and  the  country  is  improving.  But  spiritually  the  im- 
provement is  very  slow!  We  may  truly  say,  There  is 
no  excellence  without  great  labor/ 

Very  respectfully, 

A  Country  Pastor." 

A  Telegram 

"Extend  to  conference  deepest  regret  because  my 
work  will  not  permit  me  to  attend.  It  is  my  conviction 
that  the  turning  point  in  country  life  affairs  will  come 
during  the  life  time  of  the  present  generation  of  school 
children.  A  proper  distribution  of  function  for  all 
rural  institutions  is  a  necessary  step  for  the  immediate 
future.  No  one  on  the  firing  line  can  doubt  the  impor- 
tance of  backing  the  entire  program  with  the  highest 
type  of  Christian  motive ;  without  that  it  will  be  sound- 
ing brass  and  will  all  have  to  be  done  over.  May  your 
conference  be  constructive  in  its  tone. 

(Signed)  E.  C.  Lindemann 

State  Club  Leader  for  Michigan." 


APPENDIX  III 

ECHOES  AND   IMPRESSIONS   OF  THE  CON- 
FERENCE 

My  impressions  of  the  recent  Country  Life  Confer- 
ence were  about  as  follows: 

First,  that  the  preparatory  work  in  guaranteeing  a 
good  attendance  must  have  been  rather  thoroughly 
done. 

Second,  that  the  scattering  and  inconclusive  nature 
of  the  papers  and  remarks  was  probably  necessary  in 
an  initial  attempt,  and  also  in  order  to  cover  the  wide 
range  of  interest  represented  in  so  diverse  a  gathering. 

Third,  that  the  total  effect  of  the  conference  would 
be  to  correct  the  error  that  any  special  worker  might 
cherish  that  the  solution  of  the  country  problem  lay 
wholly  in  his  own  field  and  that  he  had  the  exclusive 
key  to  the  problem. 

Fourth,  that  it  paved  the  way  for  a  more  strictly 
limited  and  tl^erefore  more  specialized  treatment  of 
certain  phases  of  the  problem,  which  might  be  taken 
up  in  subsequent  conferences. 

Fifth,  that  the  conference  was  free  from  cant  and 
from  the  tendency  to  think  patronizingly  of  the  coun- 
try. 

Dr.  Allen  Hoben, 
Department  of  Practical  Theology, 
The  University  of  Chicago. 

123 


124  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

"I  was  particularly  impressed  with  the  ability  and 
practical  ideas,  as  well  as  the  zeal,  of  the  many  county 
and  district  representatives  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  Rural  Work.  The  things  already 
accomplished  and  the  program  mapped  out,  it  seems 
to  me,  are  the  biggest  things,  with  the  widest  scope  and 
possibilities  of  service  of  any  of  your  undertakings." 

B.  F.  Harris, 
Representing  American  Bankers'  Association, 
Urbana,  Illinois. 

"The  conference  demonstrated  that  rural  communi- 
ties may  develop  to  the  maximum  an  educational,  eco- 
nomic, and  Christian  service  program  if  fostered  by 
the  Christian  Church  and  unified  by  unpretentious  effi- 
cient Association  leadership,  operated  wherever  needed. 
This  program  will  intensify  the  morals,  the  democracy, 
and  the  financial  security  of  the  whole  nation." 

H.  D.  Dickson, 
General  Secretary,  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  Dayton,  Ohio. 

"The  Chicago  Rural  Life  Conference  was  of  great 
value  to  me  as  a  country  pastor.  I  returned  to  my 
work  with  broadened  vision,  new  inspiration,  and  deeper 
appreciation  of  the  efforts  of  the  leaders  in  the  rural 
life  movement.  Such  conferences  are  of  supreme  value 
to  the  work  of  rural  uplift." 

Rev.  C.  M.  McConnell, 
Lakeville,  Ohio. 


APPENDIX  125 

"The  Chicago  Conference  on  balanced  country  life 
progress  was  in  program  true  to  its  title.  Fundamental 
agencies  in  action  for  rural  progress  were  proportion- 
ally emphasized.  Individual  and  institutional  independ- 
ence were  analytically  revealed.  Consciousness  of  the 
essential  solidarity  in  rural  community  life  was  clari- 
fied." 

Professor  Ernest  Burnham, 
Western  State  Normal  School, 
Kalamazoo,  Michigan. 

"The  conference  was  right  in  placing  a  big  emphasis 
upon  the  tremendous  need  for  rural  church  leaders. 
There  is  no  work  more  important  to  the  welfare  of 
the  nation  and  the  world  than  that  of  the  pastor  in  the 
rural  community.  The  opportunity  is  so  large  that  it 
may  well  command  every  energy  of  the  mind  and  heart. 
It  provides  a  sphere  for  the  exertion  of  every  influence 
— moral,  educational,  social,  economic,  religious — of 
which  the  most  refined  and  most  intellectual  and  most 
spiritually-minded  man  is  capable." 

Rev.  J.  G.  K.  McClure,  D.D„ 
President  McCormick  Theological  Seminary, 

Chicago. 

"The  Chicago  Rural  Life  Conference  was  the  most 
helpful  thing  that  could  possibly  come  to  the  Illinois 
County  Work  at  this  time.  The  awakening  of  public 
interest  has  been  the  main  difficulty  that  we  have  en- 
countered in  the  past.  The  conference  crystallized  the 
need  of  an  increased  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Illinois 


126  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  to  serve  the  coun- 
try communities." 

J.  E.  Wilder, 
Chairman,  Illinois  State  Committee  of  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations,  Chicago. 

"It  will  be  a  fine  thing  for  the  metropolitan  Asso- 
ciations to  have  these  rural  organizations  throughout 
the  country  so  that  such  boys  as  come  to  Chicago  will 
be  more  readily  related  to  the  Association  work.  I 
believe  you  are  on  the  right  track  in  organizing  in  the 
country.  The  country  boys  need  the  things  that  the 
Association  stands  for  just  as  much  as  the  city  boys." 

W.  F.  Hypes, 
President,  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association. 

"The  Chicago  Country  Life  Conference  re-empha- 
sized the  fact  that  the  need  of  rural  life  is  one  of  the 
vital  things  and  demands  the  most  earnest  attention 
of  all  thinking  men  in  business  and  in  labor.  It  re- 
quires the  broadest  kind  of  thought,  because  of  the 
many  interrelated  problems.  It  is  the  most  interesting 
forward  movement  of  the  day." 

R.  L.  Crampton, 
Illinois  Bankers'  Association,  Chicago. 

"The  Rural  Life  Conference  was  a  timely  move.  Bet- 
ter farms  and  better  farming  are  good.  Better  citizens 
who  have  visions  for  the  community  in  which  they  live 
are  needed.    The  individualistic  stage  of  agriculture  is 


APPENDIX  127 

passing.  The  next  development  calls  for  organization 
of  our  forces  and  a  proper  balance  in  country  life 
progresses,  working  for  a  common  end." 

Fred  H.  Rankin, 
Illinois  Agricultural  College,  Champaign,  Illinois. 

"The  Chicago  Rural  Life  Conference  held  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Association  recently  must  have  been  ex- 
ceedingly gratifying  to  its  promoters.  The  papers  and 
discussions  had  meaning  and  point,  and  it  is  very  cer- 
tain that  no  one  could  have  been  present  who  did  not 
carry  away  with  him  a  new  sense  of  the  importance 
and  urgency  of  the  rural  opportunities." 

C.  M.  Stuart, 
President  Garrett  Biblical  Institute, 
Evanston,  Illinois. 


APPENDIX  IV 
DISTRIBUTION   OF    DELEGATES    BY    STATES 


Colorado 

2 

Illinois 

20 

Chicago 

52 

Indiana 

2 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Massachusetts 

Michigan 

15 

Minnesota 

Nebraska 

New  York 

North  Dakota 

South   Dakota 

Ohio 

II 

Pennsylvania 

Wisconsin 

8 

Students 

117 

Total  246 


129 


APPENDIX  V 

LIST  OF  DELEGATES  TO  THE  COUNTRY 
LIFE  CONFERENCE  HELD  UNDER  THE  AUS- 
PICES OF  THE  COUNTY  WORK  DEPARTMENT 
SUB-COMMITTEE  OF  THE  INTERNATIONAL 
COMMITTEE  OF  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN 
ASSOCIATONS,  IN  CHICAGO,  OCTOBER  25,  1916. 


Colorado 

reacher 
KS,  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Company,  Denver 


REV.  J.  J.  CACE,  Pioneer  Preacher 

C.  J.  Hic: 


Illinois 

REV.  C.  J.  BENGSTON,  Editor  The  Lutheran  Companion,  Rock 
Island 

PROP.  S.  C.  BRONSON,  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  Evanston 

W.  STERRY  BROWN,  Editor  School  and  Home  Education.  Bloom- 
ington 

MRS.  W.  S.  BROWN,  Bloomington 

H.  GERBERDING.  Lutheran  Theological  Seminary,  Maywood 

HON.  B.  P.  HAPvRIS,  President  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Cham- 
paign, 111.,  and  formerly  Chairman  of  the  Agricultural  Commis- 
sion of  the  American  Bankers'  Association  and  Editor  of  The 
Banker-Farmer 

MRS.  C.  C.  HATFIELD,  Guest,  River  Forest 

DR.  R.  E.  HIERONYMUS,  Community  Adviser,  University  of 
Illinois 

THOMAS  COLGATE,  Evanston,  Member  Illinois  State  Committee, 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 

C.  W.  HUDSON,  Waukegan 

H.  W.  KNIHOFF.  Franklin  Park 

MRS.  W.  H.  LICHTY,  Guest,  Zion  City 

PROP.  F.  A.  LUNDBERG,  Swedish  Seminary,  Evanston 

HON.  GEORGE  MACKAY,  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
Canton 

RALPH  McKEE,  Student  Department,  International  Committee  of 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  Kankakee 

131 


132  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

PROP.  FRED  H.  RANKIN.  College  of  Agriculture,  University  of 
Illinois 

MRS.  MARY  SEARCY,  Secretary  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, Highland  Park 

PROF.  C.  M.  STUART,  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  Evanston 

PROF.  C.  G.  WALLENIUS.  Swedish  Theological  Seminary,  Evanston 

A.  C.  WIEAND,  Oak  Park 

Chicago 

PROF,  J.  M.  ARTMAN,  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 

College 
BERT  BALL,  Secretary  Crop  Improvement  Committee,  Council  of 

Grain  Exchanges 
M.   H.   BICKHAM,   Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 

University  of  Chicago 

E.  M.  BOWMAN,  Member  Illinois  State  Comniittee  of  Young  Men's 

Christian  Associations 
PROF.  I.  E.  BROWN,  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 

College 
PRESIDENT  FRANK  H.  BURT,  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian 

Association  College 
R.  L.  CRAMPTON,  Illinois  Bankers'  Association 

F.  A.  CROSBY 

PROF.  C.  D.  CRAWFORD,  Beloit  College.  Wis. 

REV.  OZORA  S.  DAVIS,  D.D.,  President  Chicago  Theological  Sem- 
inary 

F.  K.  DEERHAKE,  Secretary  Illinois  State  Committee  of  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations 

S.  B.  DENISON,  Court  Reporter 

B.  W.  DICKSON.  Member  Illinois  State  Committee  of  Young  Men's 

Christian  Associations 

PROF.  CHAS.  M.  ELDER,  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation College 

PROF.  E.  E.  EUBANK,  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
College 

PROF.  E.  FLORY.  Bethany  Bible  School 

OMAR  FLU  GUM.  Chicago  Theological  Seminary 

PROF.  M.  I.  FOSS,  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
College 

PROF.  O.  D.  FOSTER,  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
College 

MRS.  E.  J.  GOODSPEED,  Member  County  Department,  Central 
Field  Committee.  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations 

MRS.  CHARLES  GRAY,  Farm  Engineering 

C.  V.  GREGORY,  The  Prairie  Farmer 

W.  P.  HARMS,  South  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
H.  B.  HASTINGS,  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  of  Mower 

County.  Minn. 
C.   C.  HATFIELD,   Secretary   County  Work  Departmeiit,  Interna- 
tional Committee  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 


APPENDIX  133 

DR.  ALLAN  HOBEN,  Professor  of  Practical  Theology,  The  Univer- 
sity of  Chicago 

PROF.  J.  G.  HOFFER,  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
College  ^     .    . 

J.  S.  HOtTON.  Business  Manager  Chicago  Young  Men  s  Christian 
Association  College 

W.  F.  HYPES,  Presidfent  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 

PROF.  H.  F.  KALLENBERG,  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation College 

T.  A.  LAMOND.  Carson,  Pirie,  Scott  &  Company 

J.  WELLER  LONG,  The  Farmers'  Union 

A.  J.  LOEPPERT 

REV.  J.  G.  K.  McCLURE,  D.D.,  President  McCormick  Theological 
Seminary 

L.  WILBUR  MESSER,  Secretary  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association 

WARD  R.  MILES,  The  University  of  Chicago 

REV.  W.  W.  MILLER,  Englewood  Gospel  Chapel 

PROF.  R.  H.  NICODEMUS,  Bethany  Bible  School 

E.  H.  PRATT,  Guest 

A.  W.  SALAVELT,  The  University  of  Chicago 

N.  C.  SCHLICHTER,  Secretary  Industrial  Department,  Interna- 
tional Committee,  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 

H.  H.  SCHUELER,  Reporter 

R.  L.  SCOTT,  Carson,  Pirie,  Scott  &  Company 

K.  A.  SHU  MAKER,  Secretary  Illinois  State  Committee  of  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations 

H.  H.  SMITH,  The  Continent 

MISS  MAUD  TREGO,  Secretary  County  Department,  Central  Field 
Committee  of  the  National  Board  of  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations 

THEODORE  G.  SOARES,  The  University  of  Chicago 

A.  W.  SOLAN  DT,  Divinity  School,  The  University  of  Chicago 

HON.  R.  S.  VESSEY,  Ex-Governor  of  South  Dakota 

DR.  ROBERT  WEIDENSALL,  Honorary  Secretary  County  Work. 
Department  of  the  International  Committee  of  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations 

JOHN  E.  WILDER,  Chairman  Illinois  State  Committee  of  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations 

H.  T.  WILLIAMS,  Secretary  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation 

A.  STAMFORD  WHITE,  Member  Board  of  Directors,  Chicago 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association 

PROF.  C.  A.  YOUNG,  Chicago  Christian  Institute 

117  Students  from  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  College 


Indiana 

PROF.  O.  P.  HALL,  Purdue  University 
E.  L.  HOLLINGSWORTH,  Rensselaer 


134  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

Iowa 

FRED  M.  HANSEN,  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 

Iowa  State  College,  Ames 
C.  H.  PIPHER,  State  Secretary  for  County  Work  in  Iowa,   Des 

Moines 

Kansas 

P.  D.  PIERCE,  Secretary  Kansas  State  Committee  of  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  Topeka 

Kentucky 

PROP.  A.  W.  FORTUNE,  College  of  the  Bible  of  Transylvania  Col- 
lege, Lexington 

Massachusetts 

PROP.  W.  J.  CAMPBELL,  International  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation College,  Springjfield 

Michigan 

E.  J.  ARNOT,  Secretary  Lenawee  County  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  Adrian 

L.  E.  BUELL,  Secretary  State  Committee  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations,  Detroit 

PROF.  ERNEST  BURNHAM,  Western  State  Normal  School,  Kala- 
mazoo 

C.  A.  CASTER,  Secretary  Hillsdale  County  Yotmg  Men's  Christian 

Association,  Hillsdale 

H.  R.  EARLE,  Member  Michigan  State  Committee  of  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  Detroit 

WALTER  GOSPILL,  Secretary  St.  Clair  County  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  Marion  City 

W.  M.  HAZEN,  County  Committeeman,  Three  Rivers 

D.  C.   HEPFLEY,    Secretary   Young   Men's   Christian   Association, 

Michigan  Agricultural  College 

E.  E.    HORNER,    Member    Michigan   State   Committee   of   Young 

Men's  Christian  Associations,  Eaton  Rapids 
J.  C.  KETCHAM,  Master  Michigan  SUate  Grange,  Hastings 
O.  C.  KIMBALL,  County  Committeeman,  Hillsdale 
P.  P.  KNAPP,  Secretary  Michigan  State  Committee  of  Young  Men's 

Christian  Associations 
C.  B.  MITCHELL,  Michigan  Agricultural  College,  Lansing 
C.  L.  ROWE,  Secretary  Michigan  State  Committee  of  Young  Men's 

Christian  Associations 
E.  B,  SURTZER,  Calumet 


APPENDIX  135 

Minnesota 

E.  F.  BYERS,   North  Central  Field  Committee.  Young  Women's 

Christian  Association,  Minneapolis 
R.   C.   COFFIN,   Secretary   Minnesota  State  Committee  of  Young 

Men's  Christian  Associations,  Minneapolis 
MISS  LEONARDA  GOBS,  Editor  The  Farmer's  Wife,  St.  Paul 
A.  J.  NASON,  Member  County  Work  Department  Sub-Committee 
of  International  Committee  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions, St.  Paul 

Nebraska 

F.  H.  CHICKERING,  Member  Nebraska  State  Committee  of  Young 

Men's  Christian  Associations 

New   York   City 

WILLIAM  J.  COLBY,  Association  Press.  New  York 

MISS  JESSIE   FIELD,  Secretary  Town   and  Country  Committee, 

National   Board   Young   Women's   Christian  Associations,   New 

York 
F.  B.  FREEMAN,  Secretary  County  Work  Department,  International 

Committee  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
HENRY  ISRAEL,  Secretary  County  Work  Department,  International 

Committee  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
RICHARD   C.  MORSE,  Consulting  General  Secretary  International 

Committee  of  Young  Men's  Chnstian  Associations 
C.  A.  B.  PRATT,  Member  Cotmty  Work  Department  Sub-Committee 

International  Committee  of  Yoimg  Men's  Christian  Associations 
ALBERT  E.  ROBERTS,  Senior  Secretary  County  Work  Department 

International  Committee  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 

North  Dakota 

A.  B.  DALE,  Secretary  North  Dakota  State  Committee,  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  Fargo 

Ohio 

E.  I.  ANTRIM,  Ph.D.,  County  Committee,  Van  Wert 

H.    D,    DICKSON,  Secretary   Young    Men's   Christian  Association, 

Dayton 
J.  J.  HILLSE,  Covmty  Committee,  Upper  Sandusky 
DR.   J.    P.    LANDIS,    President   Bonebrake   Theological   Seminary, 

Dairton 
J.  H.  LANGENWALTER,  BlufiEton  College,  Blufifton 
T.  B.  LANHAM,  Secretary  Ohio  State  Committee  of  Young  Men's 

Christian  Associations,  Coltunbus 
A.  H.  LICHTY,  Secretary  Ohio  State  Committee  of  Young  Men's 

Christian  Associations,  Columbus 


136  BALANCING  COUNTRY  LIFE 

REV.  C.  M.  McCONNELL,  Country  Pastor,  Lakeville 
CLIVE  McGUIRE,  Secretary  County  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, Oberlin 
H.  M.  SHIPPS.  Cleveland 
E.  L.  SHUEY,  JR„  County  Committeeman,  Dayton 

Wisconsin 

MISS  RUTH  DAVIS,  County  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, Beaver  Dam 

HOWARD  HUBBELL,  Secretary  Wisconsin  State  Committee  of 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  Milwaukee 

S.  PAUL  JONES.  Secretary  County  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, Waukesha 

L.  A.  MARKHAM,  Secretary  County  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, Janesville 

MRS.  F.  W.  SAWTELLE,  County  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, Horicon 

H.  P.  TORMOHLEN,  Secretary  County  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  Delavan 

J.  W.  WATERBURY,  County  Committeeman.  Prairie  du  Sac 

MRS.  J.  W.  WATERBURY,  County  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, Prairie  du  Sac 

J.  M.  SPRINGER,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  EUsabethville,  Bel- 
gian Congo 


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